The burglar (Charles Hyatt) gets surprised by a wayward undergarment after getting into the house in Anthony Winkler's 'The Burglar'. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
CHARLES HYATT is once again proving that he is fine wine. Hyatt currently stars in The Burglary, along with Dorothy Cunningham and Carl Davis. The three make up the cast of the play, now running at The Little Little Theatre on Tom Redcam Avenue, St. Andrew.
Hyatt manages to steal the show despite being visible for less than a third of the production, spending the rest of the time as a disembodied voice from off- stage.
The Burglary deals with a retired couple who have just made their way back to Jamaica after giving the best years of their life to the United States. Like many returning residents, unfortunately, their return home is greeted with crime - or, in this case, an attempt at a crime.
Elbert (Carl Davis) and Mildred (Dorothy Cunningham) are rudely awakened by the sounds of a deranged man (Hyatt) attempting to break into their new home on the first night of their return to Jamaica. Their reverie about the paradise that is Jamaica is therefore shattered.
The plot which results from this is completely ludicrous and severely tests the bounds of believability. However, it is often far too funny to elicit complaints. The sheer ridiculousness of what unfolds often pulls uncontrolled laughter, simply because the ears cannot be believed.
Upon discovering that there is a burglar outside their door, Mildred and Elbert proceed to get into a long conversation with him. Despite Elbert's conviction that his house is too well built to be burgled, he and Mildred are scared out of their wits. Their fear, however, never translates as the believable part of this play.
The true star of this production is Hyatt's character, without whom the production would have hardly passed as interesting. Winkler seems to have spent most of his energy investing witty lines into the burglar, the same attention which was not spent on the other two characters. As a result, Mildred and Elbert are in large part mere foils against whom the burglar is allowed to shine. Nonetheless, Cunningham and Davis both gave good performances, convincingly portraying a couple who had been married for several years.
Despite the silliness of the plot, it is in this that The Burglary earns most of its merit. Because of the nature of the situation, it shows that comedy is not all about action. Most of the laughs come from the conversation and so depend heavily on the perfect timing and expression, especially from the burglar.
With just three characters, the play also needed good direction, combined with acting talent in order to sustain its energy. This it received from Buddy Pouyatt, who directed.
Michael Lloyd (set design) and Lopez Atlan (set construction) also created an interestingly realistic set, which paid a great deal of attention detail.
The overall result is that if one is merely looking for a few good laughs they can certainly be found in The Burglary. Despite the social relevance of the issues, The Burglary steers very clear from any social commentary. It neither satirises nor comments. It simply takes a socially relevant situation, takes a ridiculous slant and so provides some comedy.