Krista Henry, Staff Reporter
Ruth Samuels performs at the lunch hour comedy show put on by the Star and Artistes of the Month Ity and Fancy Cat in June. Ruth emerged the winner of the comedy search competition. -Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer
Few stand the test of time in show business. Actress, director, producer and writer Ruth Samuels has spent the majority of her life in the world of theatre, but has not received the success that her many years of work should credit her with.
The only reason she has stayed so long in theatre is her love for what she does. "I'm a very talented person. I love the theatre. I'm not formally trained, but I know things very good. I'm a very good actress and I'm a writer and director ... Being in the business it takes a lot to really put on a play and I don't want to be lost in the system and not showing what I can do."
From an early age Samuels had aspired to be in theatre. "From I was eight or six my grandmother took me to the park to see Louise Bennett and from there I wanted to be like her," Samuels said.
Samuels is determined to be successful. Although her name is known, she has not gained the financial benefits that should follow. "My greatest joy is to make people laugh and I love what I'm doing. No producer will call Ruth Samuels to do a play. It leave up to me alone to write my own play so that I can be a part of it," she said.
"I started out wid a Ralph Holness production from 1987 in a play called Obeah Wedding, which did well. I played a viragous woman which the crowd loved and I got some time to go perform in Canada. While I was in Canada people loved my performance. I performed there and it was like wow! I performed in another play he had called Unda Mi Nose, then Night Nurse. Then I started my own productions," she said.
"My play is just real good story, fun and laughter. But to be honest, I don't know what is a roots play up until now. To me is just a label to market my product. In the late '80s roots plays were the thing, so people used to come to the theatre to see a play," she said.
challenges
"I write good stuff and perform in it, but I don't really have the money to promote it. I always have people who promote my plays for me, but sometimes they use poor excuse seh they don't mek no money; sometimes you see the place full up and then you get a
little hand to mouth. Because mi love it mi stand up and tek any
little thing for it," she said.
Despite having written and produced the plays, Samuels says she still does not benefit financially for her work.
"Even for instance, I have a lot of my plays on video that is selling right now and I not getting any money for it. I did a play Licky Licky Mattey in 1993 and I see it on cable TV and I think it should be in the range of number one. I pay $12,000 to video that play and I carried it to a distributor and he gave me $25,000 three times. The play is selling up to now worldwide. I went back to dem but it didn't pan out. It's doing something for me same way; it mek people know me. People love it," she said.
Samuels says she has had success in other Caribbean countries though. She claims "I did another play which I direct, produce, write and act. It's called Yu too Rude, where I play a wicked aunty. It's a true to life story, weh mek people cry. I performed that play in Cayman and people cry cause
people identify with it.
"Licky Licky Mattey went to Grenada. Dem seh that's the first time that a Jamaican play perform there and that was like 1995. We went to Trinidad after. My best moment was in Trinidad. Dem have this thing called Carifesta. Jamaica was suppose to send a group up dere and Jamaica didn't send for their group. Somebody hear bout us and seh dem want us to perform. Nine of we, we get the best performance. Dem time deh the Prime Minister was there and don't know how we get there, dem don't give us any credit. Nobody call we and seh thanks, but that was still my best moment," Samuels said.
future plans
Ruth Samuels is still making plays and hopes to one day reap the rewards and recognition for her work. "Right now I would like to come back out and put out back my plays. I have a very good story which I want to start rehearsing soon. This story is kinda based on when I heard Christine Hewitt marry this young guy. She's a friend of mine. I wrote the story She is Twice My Age. It's not Christine, but I got the idea from her," she said.
The owner of Ruth's Bar, Samuels has also tried to pave her way on the comedy scene. Samuels was the winner of the Star's Comedy Search Competition in June. According to Ruth, she has not given up her comedic aspirations, as both theatre and comedy are still on her list.
