Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer

Jamaican playright, Trevor Rhone performing his one-man play, Bellas Gate Boy, before a NY audience at St. John's University recently. - Contributed

Noted playwright Trevor Rhone recently returned from Mainz, Germany, where he performed his autobiographical play, Bellas Gate Boy at the fifth Auto/Biography International Conference.

The play, which is slated for publication by MacMillan later this year, the playwright revealed, is a one-man show which details the playwright's life from his first yearnings in the country, his study in England and his eventual return to his homeland where he finally shrugged off a colonial bent and beautifully captured the voice and concerns of his people.

Prior to his performance in Mainz, Rhone has delivered several readings of the play, including twice at Harvard University, as well as at The Commonwealth School in Boston.

However, this reading proved special to the noted playwright, who includes in his credit, Smile Orange, Old Storytime, Two Can Play, School's Out and co-authorship of The Harder They Come. "Germany was particularly gratifying," he said. The gratification was spurred by the diversity of the audience, which Rhone explained numbered approximately 150 with as many languages among them.

Standing ovation

"It was a stunning experience," he continued, explaining that his performance was followed by a two-minute standing ovation. Yet, Rhone laments that he is far more likely to receive an invitation to read at a foreign university than a local one.

"It's a tough struggle being a Caribbean artiste," he said. Ad-mitting that the artiste's life is generally a tough one, he remarked that being a resident of the Caribbean multiplies that hardship. Rhone is among the few published Caribbean playwrights, as most playwrights find themselves stuck between the arguments that to be published they need to be on the CXC syllabus but to get on the syllabus they need to be published.

Bellas Gate Boy was premiered at the former The Barn Theatre, on Oxford Road, in 2002, under the direction of esteemed director Yvonne Brewster. Brewster and Rhone had been the co-founders of The Barn Theatre, and were responsible for the genesis of Theatre 77.