Brown has put together an excellent ensemble cast to fully execute the story of FEMININE JUSTICE. The cast includes Brown herself, who has been busy as a bee in Toronto’s Caribbean theatre scene since she arrived from Jamaica in 1989. It would be fair to say that Brown has certainly made a household name for herself in the community from the consistent and tireless work she has put in ranging from her comedic stints at local community and church events to the memorable and electrifying stage plays such as “Country Duppy”, “Children Children”, “Wipe That Smile”, “Single Entry”, “Rosetta” and “Common-Law”.

The FEMININE JUSTICE cast is rounded off by comic actor and man about the stages, Naggo Morris (who it seems is a resident actor in plays produced Marcia Brown Productions), Letna Allen-Rowe and newcomer to the Toronto stage, Clive Forrester.

Commandeered by her mother into marrying Wilton Chambers (Clive Forrester), a psychologist with power, wealth, status and fame, Vilma (Marcia Brown) thought it might be the best thing that could have happened to her. Wilton however turned out to be an abusive husband, and she is manipulated by both to keep this “little matter” under-cover … after-all, Wilton is a psychologist who is well recognized by his peers as an astute professional in the medical fraternity, he is respected by the Bishop in his church as a honourable man and faithful in his giving, so his reputation would be damaged if this came to light, not to mention his bruised ego.

Fate however would not have this going on forever, so after sustaining a serious life-threatening motor vehicle accident, he is confronted with the consequences of his actions by divine order. What does he do when he discovers his destiny, lies in the hands of a woman!!!

His wife on the other hand, must come to terms and accept responsibilities for her own limitations. Will she lower her pride and receive fact-facing truths from a simple, uneducated and seemingly underprivileged gardener (Naggo Morris)!

Dawkins’ characters are profoundly and intensely layered in ways that are engaging and compelling, and under Canute Lawrence’s outstanding direction, the members of this peerless ensemble have worked to ensure that the portrayal of their characters will leave audience members with unwavering conviction.

FEMININE JUSTICE is thought provoking and evokes much emotion. The subject matter is not for laughs – but with the witty lines penned by Dawkins, it certainly has it’s ample share of belly-full-of laughs through the play.

FEMININE JUSTICE received awards for Best Drama, Best New Jamaican Play and the most coveted, Best Production, from the International Theatre Institute (Jamaica Chapter) in 1999.

Below are the performance dates:

Brampton
Saturday June 19 @ 8PM
Chinguacousy Secondary School
1370 Williams Parkway East

North York
Father’s Day – Sunday June 20 @ 6PM
Jamaican Canadian Centre
995 Arrow Road

“Directed by Douglas Prout, For Better or Worse is a kaleidoscope of clean humour, excellent costumes and some fine acting, wrapped in a shroud of topical and controversial boldness. A variety of reasons have been presented when couples fail to honour their marriage vows. But certainly not the reasons” presented in this production … more

This is a story of a couple (Marcia and Alfred) married for approximately seven years, with two daughters. They are experiencing severe financial difficulties due to the fact that Alfred, an engineer, has been unemployed for three years. It appears that he is not concerned about his situation, and has taken on the role of house-husband with much zeal. Marcia is unimpressed by the fact that Alfred is not seeking employment, and she is bored due to their lack of involvement in social activities.

On her 29th birthday, she informs him that she is leaving him. This she does, taking their daughters with her. They move in with Marcia’s wealthy employer, Mrs. Shields, who provides for them comfortably. Mrs. Shields has been widowed for several years and expects “companionship” from Marcia.

In the meantime, Alfred has rented one of the rooms in the matrimonial home to Patience, a grief counsellor. The relationship between Alfred and Patience provides much hilarity and interest. Patience helps in improving Alfred’s outlook on life, and he eventually secures employment. Certain occurrences in the life of the country combine with the aid of Patience to bring about the reunion of Alfred and Marcia.

You have to go see the play in order to find out what Patience does next; and also about the fate of Mrs. Shields.

‘Marcia’ is played by Sakina Deer; ‘Alfred’, by Jerry Benzwick / Christopher “Johnny” Daley; ‘Mrs. Shields’, by Ruth Ho Shing; and ‘Patience’ by Terri Salmon.

It stars Christopher ‘Johnny’ Daley, Jerry Benzwick, Terri Salmon, Sakina and Ruth Ho Shing.

“For Better Or Worse” plays Tuesdays to Fridays at 8:30 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

For tickets, bookings and more information, please call 906-0003 or 805-4847.

Starring: Sakina Deer, Donald Anderson, Jean Paul Menou, Ruth Ho Shing, Maylynne Walton, Jerry Benzwick, Christopher Taylor

Written by: Basil Dawkins

Directed by: Douglas Prout

Basil Dawkins has said his latest play, Which Way Is Out, is about hope, a very loaded word in 2009, with U.S. President Barack Obama seeming to be the new hope made manifest among us. This American connection is important because Dawkins’ play, Foreign retains its power as a symbol of hope to the Jamaican sufferer. In the play pluck and resilience are virtues that are ultimately rewarded. Scheming and bigotry are punished. This comedy has a mirror structure designed perhaps to emphasize that when superficial layers of class and colour are removed, we are all the same. The play does not give an explanation about why we need the prickly coatings to distinguish ourselves, but clearly shows that these coatings are in fact there. Which Way Is Out, which has a touch of the fairy tale, very simply presents a funny account of one woman’s triumph.

That woman is Monica (Sakina Deer), the Cinderella of the story, and her tribulations are many. She has lived her entire life on capture land and chicken back, but the real difficulty seems not to be her poverty but, rather, her standing within the community, a small district in rural Jamaica. As Miss Chin (Ruth Ho Shing), the mixed-race shopkeeper of Chinese extract who amusingly considers herself ‘brown’, points out, Monica belongs to a grouping that is the lowest of the low: ‘nasty negar’. Monica accepts that status, but she lives happily. Her freedom is depicted by her bare feet. Her fighting spirit is made manifest by the song she belts out, I am not afraid. Given her status, however, she is deeply confused when Godfrey (Jean Paul Menou), a white American tourist takes a liking to her and eventually asks her to become his wife. He gradually whittles down her defenses and eventually the couple migrates. However, ill fortune strikes and Monica is forced to navigate the harsh American landscape without Godfrey’s protection – without papers, without friends. Ultimately, through chance and her own tenacity, Monica is rescued and, showing a truly large heart, looks to rescue another sufferer.

It is a nice ending and Dawkins perhaps means for us to see that there is no sense in climbing out of the barrel and leaving all the others to suffer. The play supports the idea that those persons who are struggling at the bottom of the barrel, through no fault of their own, can achieve. Monica is an interesting character. She plays dominoes while singing in her yard; she outwits Eustace (Donald Anderson), Miss Chin’s handyman, in a bid to earn a few dollars; and she is hospitably happy to offer the little food she has to her more well-to-do visitor. But she has a hard exterior. Her forehead is known to be her weapon of choice, although we only hear reports of its effectiveness and watch her angle it threateningly, comically. She finds it hard to understand why Godfrey wishes to marry her and he is forced to explain to his new wife how to be affectionate. It is a credit to Deer’s acting that she is able to portray a likeable Monica and there is at least one moment of true vulnerability interspersed with many of loud blustering and hustling. The audience feels sympathy for Monica thinking it unjust that she is so maligned by her community.

Thus Jamaica, as the audience sees it, is unfair and ultimately unable to offer hope to the poorest among us. The U.S. is depicted as unfair as well, but nevertheless is a place where good things can happen to benefit the poor, huddled masses. Monica chooses to migrate and although she returns home at the end of the play we know that she will soon return to Foreign. This, then, is a funny kind of hope for a Jamaican audience to watch, Jamaica is seen in the first half of the play; the setting is the U.S. for the second half. America is convincingly conveyed through the Southern accents of Jean Paul Menou and Maylynne Walton. There is, though, a touch of the soap opera in this Southern USA with Walton’s evil twin character, who is devoted to Daddy and possesses a hot-tempered bigotry.

Jamaica and Foreign – good sister and wicked sister. The play has some mirror images and the cast doubles up in interesting ways. Ho Shing, for example, plays the half Chinese shopkeeper in rural Jamaica and doubles as the lawyer in the United States. Both stereotypes are in their respective societies money-grubbing and unethical characters. In the play, however, the half-Chinese lawyer, Ho Shing’s U.S. doppelganger, experiences prejudice and is much more sympathetic to Monica than her shopkeeper counterpart, who in Jamaica perpetuates small-minded shadism. This kind of mirroring supports one of the play’s central ideas: we are all the same (no doubt it is also economically efficient from a stage production point of view) whether Jamaicans or Americans, or whether in Jamaica or in the U.S.

To bring the U.S. and rural Jamaica to life at the Little Little Theatre, multi-functional set pieces are used. Parts open out to create a new setting and, thus, Monica’s house becomes the Embassy with the audience using a little imagination. The stage properties and set are not overly elaborate, and well suited to the purpose. The actors themselves often assist in scene changes, providing singing as background and moving properties as well.

The cast does well and gives a credible performance. There were some plot developments which perhaps could have used more explanation, such as Monica’s ultimate decision to marry Godfrey after protesting that she never would. Also, her final love interest was believable but a little too convenient for the happy ending. The notion that Jamaican offers little hope to the poor is perhaps an understandable position but troubling too, is the depiction of the heroine marrying the very sweet American tourist not for love but for the economic gain. It is realistic but disquieting for this critic. In the end, play, though amusing, offered little in the way of hope for this Jamaican theatre-goer.

Happily, with the kind cooperation of LIME, the producers confirmed that the telephone line to the ticket office, 906-0003 is now working, and an emergency cellular number 805-4847 has also been added.

The producer, actors and crew apologized profusely to the patrons who have been disappointed, particularly to those overseas visitors on holidays who had left the country without the opportunity of seeing this already acclaimed new work by Basil Dawkins.

Dawkins said that he was sad he was not able to meet the expectations of his faithful patrons, and also lamented the financial devastation. He was however, overjoyed at the response of the brave patrons who attended on opening night. “You see patrons are not going to leave Stony Hill and Red Hills and Manor Parks and drive down to a theatre in Cross Roads without being sure they can get tickets, that is why a telephone number is on all the advertisements, they called, but we could not respond, they were frustrated, we did all we could and we are truly sorry to have had to close the show. Operating a Box Office without a telephone is like trying to drive a vehicle without steering wheel, when the passengers think there is a functioning steering wheel and only the driver knows there is none” said Dawkins, trying to disguise his pain.

“It will be difficult to recover but we won’t give up”. The play is a wonderful, everyone from actors, directors, suppliers, designers have gone out of their way to make sure that those who do see “Which Way Is Out?” will be satisfied beyond their expectations.

Which Way Is Out? reopens with two performances on Thursday, January, 1 at 5:30 PM and 8:30 PM and is scheduled to run Tuesdays to Fridays at 8:30 PM and Saturdays and Sundays 5:30 and 8:30 PM. The play is directed by Douglas Prout and stars Ruth Ho Shing, Sakina, Maylynne Walton, Donald “Ice Man” Anderson, Jerry Benzwick and Jean-Paul Menou.