Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter

Left: Overcome with grief, mother Georgia Abraham (Ruth Ho Shing) cries over the unconscious body of her son Omahar while his lawyer, Hope Sinclair (Stacy Sutherland), checks for vital signs in the play 'A Gift For Mom' at Fairfield Theatre in Montego Bay, last Saturday.   Right: An aspiring pilot, Omahar McLeod-Wint Abraham, played by actor David Tulloch (right), talks his supposed pilot father, Neville Sherman (actor Gordon Brown), through a flight simulation in the play 'A Gift For Mom' at the Fairfield Theatre, last Saturday. - photos by Claudine Housen/Staff Photographer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Sydney Reid's reproduction of Basil Dawkins' award-winning play A Gift For Mom is a brilliant coming together of western talent with award-winning scriptwriting and direction.

Proof that talent does exist in the Montego Bay theatre, the play, which opened with a gala benefit performance last Saturday, showcased three Montegonian talents: actor and playwright David Tulloch, as Omahar McLeod-Wint Abraham; Stacy Sutherland, as Hope Sinclair and attorney Gordon Brown in his debut performance as Neville Sherman, alongside Kingstonian veteran actress, Ruth Ho Shing in her role as Georgia Abrahams.

A drama which illustrates a teenager's journey into self and a mother's struggle for self-forgiveness, the play brings to life Jamaican sayings such as 'what is done in darkness must come to light' as Omahar (Tulloch) unwittingly exposes his mother's secret shame as he searches for answers regarding who his father is and ultimately who he is.

Nature versus nurture

The play questions the issue of nature versus nurture as we see a teenage boy who, having never met his father, decides a similar choice of career. It also reminds us to be careful about 'visiting the sins of the father on the son' as it is Georgia's (Ho Shing's) constant twinning of Omahar's behaviour to that of his nameless, faceless father that drives his determination to discover his identity.

One of the stronger actors in the play, Tulloch does a good depiction of the 16-year-old Omahar Abraham who is selfish and brazen enough to sue his mother for poor choice of father and his movement into a more mature being as he learns to sacrifice his needs to facilitate the happiness of another.

By far the strongest cast member, Ruth Ho Shing does a brilliant performance of the overprotective, high strung, migraine-ridden, mother who lets self-shame cloud her judgement to the extent that she almost loses her son in order to keep this deep dark secret.

Learning curve

Still on the learning curve where commercial performances are concerned, Stacy Sutherland, who made her debut at the Fairfield Theatre in Anthony Wisdom's The General's Inn in 2002, does a good portrayal of the lawyer/pseudo family counsellor who gets thrown into the mother/son battle of wills when Omahar walks into her office for legal advice.

Attorney Gordon Brown does a very believable depiction of the rakish pilot, Neville Sherman, who seems quiet adept at wooing with words.

The play will run at the Fairfield Theatre until November 19.