Ezekel (Glen Campbell, left) and Tiny (Oliver Samuels) have a go at each other in one of the many hilarious moments in Patrick Brown's musical comedy 'Cutie & the Freak'.- Contributed

A full moon sits on the horizon, an eerie wind blows. Mongrels howl. A solitary shack sits in the middle of nowhere ... a flickering flame steals a peek through its makeshift window.

A mob armed with sticks, stones and torches converge on the shack. As they advance, the hideous creature inside cringes. The mob is unrelenting. They approach the shack, menacingly, singing:

When children hide their little heads and mongrels howl in fright.
A grim and fearsome creature stalks the shadow of the night.

The foregoing is the compelling opening sequence of the 10th annual Jambiz Christmas production - Patrick Brown's comedy with music Cutie & the Freak - the fully-Jamaican stage version of the classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast.

The central theme of Cutie & the Freak is located around finding true love in the unlikeliest of places - in the warm soul of the accident inflicted, severely burnt body of Frank the Freak (played by Courtney Wilson).

Frank has been violently evicted from his home community, accused of terrorising its citizens with his gross ugliness, and forced into an existence of a homeless, scavenging vagrant. A chance meeting with the lovely university student Cutie (played by Camille Davis), on the banks of the Gordon Town river unleashes a tale that winds its way like the idyllic river, through an exciting terrain of twists and turns. The plot is unveiled amid delightful musical numbers from award-winning musical director Jon Williams and a compelling and engaging story by Patrick Brown.

Many patrons and critics have been saying that Cutie & the Freak is perhaps Brown's best work to date, providing the customary laughter, but skilfully created to engage the audience in a meaningful way.

The production has been having a phenomenal run at its homebase - Centerstage theatre, New Kingston, since its Boxing Day 2006 opening. It has also become the theatrical production of choice for secondary school students doing the theatre arts programme in school. The production company Jambiz has had to arrange some mid-morning performances on weekdays to accommodate the many requests coming from the school groups.

Educational exercise

The feedback from the kids has been remarkable. They seem thrilled that they are truly enjoying what is essentially an educational exercise, many saying that it has heightened their interest in the subject.

The rural tour kicks off this weekend in May Pen (today - the Quarry, Bustamante Highway) and Montego Bay (tomorrow - MoBay Community College).

Other performances scheduled in February are Savanna-la-Mar on Saturday, February 24 (Hotel Commingle) and Ocho Rios on Sunday, February 25 (Island Village). Come March, the production will visit several other rural townships including Mandeville, Brown's Town, Linstead, Lucea, Morant Bay, and Old Harbour.