The performance of the play that’s scheduled for Sunday, October 18, will benefit the McSyl Basic School located at Bellas Gate, Rhone’s birthplace. Notably, shortly before his death, Rhone had committed his support to the school.

“Two Can Play”, which won the award for Best Jamaican Play in 1982, will feature performances by 2008 Actor Boy Award nominees Alwyn Scott and Nadean Rawlins. It’s directed by Brian Heap, who win this year’s Actor Boy Award for ‘Best Director’.

In “Two Can Play”, Scott and Rawlins play ‘Jim’ & ‘Gloria’, a Jamaican couple who try their wildest schemes to escape gun crime in Kingston during the 1970s, and establish residence in the United States.

In the original foreword to the play, Jamaica’s late former prime minister, Michael Manley wrote: “Two Can Play is about love, and estrangement; about domination and liberation; about confusion and compassion. It is about two human beings who nearly lose one another – but who eventually struggle back together through uncertainty, through quarrels, through humiliation. Ultimately, Gloria and Jim survive because they learn to communicate, and finally, to re-discover one another – not so much as they were, but as what they each can try to become.“

Though the social commentary woven into Reza’s script is rarely heavy-handed, the wit sparkles. At the same time, the cast lends some sophistication to the material and finds the right balance between intensity and light humour. The set design and the wonderfully choppy black-and-white feel add cheeky authenticity.

The two-act play follows three persons – Serge (Issa), Marc (Zacca) and Yvan (Scott) – who’ve been friends for 15 years. Their friendship enters fragile territory when Serge buys an expensive painting. A proud art collector, he’s happy with his latest expensive acquisition and expects the approval of his chums. But marc is horrified and scornfully expresses his disapproval (“You paid $200,000 for this sh–!”) – much to Serge’s ire. Yvan, who is burdened by preparations for his impending nuptials and dissatisfaction with his job as a stationery salesman, is caught in the middle of the conflict and tries to prevent the friendship from falling apart. But his attempts at peacemaking backfire. By the second act, the tension heightens and the three friends square off over the artwork – a monochromatic white piece – using it as an excuse to relentlessly batter each other over various issues in their lives.

The actors’ performances are revelations and they exhibit strong exuberance which serves them well onstage. Not surprising since they are guided by a director who has clearly mastered the ‘art’ (pun attended) of easing the self-consciousness of his actors and getting them instead to focus on the intricate process of character development. Thankfully, Brian Heap, who helms this production, is that director.

The accomplished actors deliver and Heap nurtures their sensitive rapport. Munair Zacca is painfully convincing as Marc (also an engineer). The marvelous Alwyn Scott offers a witty, heartbreaking portrait of Yvan while Paul Issa movingly portrays Serge. The minimal set design, gorgeous lighting and sound effects provide an undercurrent that seems to swell whenever things get really tense. The stark projected images on a mini-screen in the centre of the stage further embellish the dialogue, monologues and mood of the play, which raises serious questions about art appreciation and the value of friendship.

For the most part, the University Players have crafted an entertaining product that is never offensive (the occasional ‘frank’ language aside), sometimes amusing and occasionally poignant. It’s no Shakespeare, or Arthur Miller, for that matter, but in a year that has seen several unintentionally and unfortunately funny material on the local scene, Art is a sure bet.

Serge is proud of his extravagant acquisition and fully expects to have the approval of his friends. Marc scornfully expresses his disapproval, but is it the painting that offends him, or the uncharacteristic independence-of-thought that the purchase reveals in Serge? For the insecure Yvan, burdened by the problems of his impending wedding and his dissatisfaction at his job as a stationery salesman, their friendship is his sanctuary…but his attempts at peacemaking backfire.

Lines are drawn and the three friends square off over the canvas, using it as an excuse to relentlessly batter one another over various failures. As their heated arguments become less theoretical and more personal, they border on destroying their friendship.

Go see it!