'Flossie' ((Nickiesha Williams, left) and Mr. Bucket (Dayon Gray) tangle in a scene from a rehearsal for 'The Rose Slip'. - Contributed

Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

The Rose Slip, the Edna Manley College School of Drama's first major production for 2007 is a story of ordinary life leading to a season of leaving. Written by Trinidadian playwright Douglas Archibald just past halfway the last century.

It gets transplanted to the wonderful set, at the Dennis Scot Studio Theatre, created by Ron Steger, of a Jamaican tenement yard, complete with balls of 'wiss' around the light wires, enamel containers where appropriate and, front and centre, the crowning glory, a standpipe that actually works.

Turn the tap as central character Flossie (Nickiesha Williams) often does and out comes the water. (So a curtain fell down and an apparently unattached arm carefully replaced it in the window of Susanna's (Keba-GayeDuffus/Hope Broomfield) window. Not earth-shattering on a set where a breadfruit goes 'boof' and rolling in the night.)

Lovable old rascal

It is this yard that the leaving takes place from, first the lovable old rascal Mr. Bucket (Dayon Gray), sent to the old-age home by Flossie and Susanna after being tricked by the former's partner, Gus (Dayon Gray), then the nubile Eva (Illycia Rhule) to dance at the infamous Lady Pink, then everyone as Mr. Lastide (Maurice McCallum, who is far from convincing in his officious persona) evicts all from a 'yard' that has been declared unfit for human inhabitation.

Flossie is a standout, getting decent inflection into her voice at the extremes of grieving for Eva's choice of profession as she gets desperatefor money and moves out of her upstairs quarters, rage at Lastide over the eviction process and joy as she reminisces with Susanna.

Unfortunately, her range is an exception in the production, where Susanna maintains a tone that verges on being too firm almost throughout the play, their gal pal Dora (Jodian Harvey/Venessa Gardner) is the same in her late introduction and Arabella (Karlas Smith/Natasha Griffiths) is one-dimensional as a cranky old woman.

Bucket, as excellent and engaging as his stooped shuffle of a gait is and convincing with the occasional 'ole man' swab of the tongue on the lips, could have fallen into that pit like the latrine at the centre and rear of the set, but his plea at being scrubbed and sent off is touching.

Falling squarely in the flat character category are Susanna's two children, Abel (Ronald Millwood) and Mary (Ann-Marie Cole), the former with hauled-up pants and all and the two rushing and skipping at will.

Despite the leaving and its attendant sense of loss, The Rose Slip has its humorous moments, Bucket figuring in the race for the 'boofing' breadfruit and the genuine hurl of a missile at those who would bathe him.

It is a worthy production that would do wonderfully with some more multilayered acting under Robert Clarke's direction.