Michael Reckord, Gleaner Writer

Brown Bessie (Jacqui Higgins) still clings to Missis' cast-off clothes and memories of the great house, despite the urging of her partner Tamas (Cadine Hall) in the Pantomime Company production. - Contributed

Nutrition for the mind and body was provided by the Little Theatre Movement (LTM) to an audience at the Little Little Theatre last Thursday evening.

The function, titled Emancipation Grounding, comprised songs and drama by members of the Pantomime Company, a discussion on Emancipation and the intangible heritage by Prof Rex Nettleford and Prof Barry Chevannes and, later, a snack of saltfish 'flitters', coconut drops and sweet potato pudding.

The hostess for the occasion, Barbara Gloudon, welcomed the audience and guided the proceedings with her usual wit. She explained that the musical drama was an excerpt from a larger work-in-progress, Freedom Fe Who, which she was creating for Heritage Week. It would be a companion piece to the musical, Augus Mawnin, which has been mounted by the LTM every August for the last decade or so.

The entertainment began with three songs from Augus Mawnin by the Company, only partially represented, Mrs Gloudon said. Then the University of the West Indies professors took their seats on the stage for a "conversation about slavery and Emancipation".

Prof Nettleford quickly showed the links between Emancipation in 1938 and Independence in 1962 (the latter would not have been possible without the former, he said), and between the 'sit-ins' by the slaves refusing to work on various occasions and the advent of modern industrial relations.

Two other important points the professor made were that Emancipation freed "both the jailer and the jailed", and that Jamaica's "intangible heritage" from slavery included our arts and culture. Among the manifestations, he said, our language, music, storytelling, and dance.

Main theme

Prof Chevannes defined emancipation as "freedom to be yourself and to do what you want to do". His main theme was the importance of "a sense of community", a sense which was fostered in the "negro yards" which were part of the slave plantations. Free villages and other communities came out of the experience of the negro yards, he said, adding that, in later years, "We grew up as children of communities, not just children of our parents."

He suggested that some of Jamaica's current major problems flow from a loss of that sense of community. As people flee from the country to towns and cities, he said, "We're losing the values that shaped Jamaica."

Finding identity

"Boys of a certain age need groups in which they can find a sense of identity," he said.

The lighter fare which followed the discussion started with a couple of tunes by trombonist Calvin "Bubbles" Cameron, the leader of the Pantomime orchestra, and was followed by the Freedom Fe Who excerpt.

Lasting about 20 minutes, it involved song, dance and drama on the theme of freedom. The characters, mainly ex-slaves (and a Busha with a musket who doesn't want the slaves to be free), discover how difficult things can be even with Emancipation. But the songs they sing, Time Come Now We Haffi Move Along and Plan We Plan For Freedom to Move On indicate that the problems will be overcome.

In costumes

On stage, in costumes by Anya Gloudon, were about a dozen Pantomime Company members, including Faith Bucknor, Kevin Halstead, Jacqueline Higgins and Cadine Hall. Music was provided by Cameron on trombone, Oneil Clayton on drums and Nikisha Walters on keyboards.

Mrs Gloudon, the playwright and lyricist, said the piece was "an experiment", but the enthusiastic reception it was given suggested the experiment was working. As they left the theatre, the members of the audience were handed paper plates with their snacks.