The downfall of Karl Hart’s fourth play is that the odds aren’t long enough. In Backstage, a fictional cast and crew take a show from script to stage. We see a reading of the script, a number of rehearsals, some dressing-room undressing and segments of the inscribed show, Just Soups. But we never get a sense that the show is truly endangered … more here

“The dramatic arts haven’t been this exciting in 25 years … Tick Tock is an experiment that eschews character and narrative. Instead, an ensemble of 12 (hours on a clock?) plays different Jamaican archetypes, while reciting long-form poetry. Set in the ruins of downtown Kingston, in a nameless, placeless ghetto, the performers give voice to our most dispossessed fellow citizens,” … more here

“The Plumber is, ostensibly, about a policeman suspecting and then uncovering his wife in an affair. Never mind that. It’s really about bringing some familiar characters onto the stage, characters from prior Stages shows, presented so as to blur the line between person and persona – Garfield ‘Bad Boy Trevor’ Reid, Michael ‘Stringbeans’ Nicholson, Everaldo ‘Stamma’ Creary and Andrea ‘Delcita’ Wright. These performers are not in the show, they are the show. The play is best understood as a pretext for Stamma and Delcita to run through comedy routines,” … more

One is a fluke, two a coincidence, three a trend. For those keeping count, Patrick Brown’s newly remounted play, Puppy Love, is (at least) the fourth recent Jamaican production to feature a May-December romance. (That’s where one partner is way younger than the other, like Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft in The Graduate.) The other three are Dream Merchant by Adrian Nelson, Me and Mi Chapsie by Aston Cooke and White Witch by Jane Crichton … more

If you’re planning to go see it, here’s what you can expect – sterling performances from Maylynne Walton (in the title role), Keiran King as ‘Robert’, Noelle Kerr as ‘Millie’, Philip Clarke as ‘Tuku’ and Angelita McDonald as slave gir Jestina. A large company rounds out an energetic and talented young cast, who offer impressive song and dance numbers. Check it out!

Originally written by Bobb Kerr and first produced by the Jamaica Children’s Theatre Trust in 1978, “Cindy” is a Jamaican modern day Cinderella story, which has been brought back to the stage in celebration of Campion’s 50th anniversary in 2010.

Cathi Levy has gathered a talented cast of not only Campion students, but teachers and alumni who have worked tirelessly over the last several months to ensure that Campion’s reputation for excellence is maintained. Audiences can expect outstanding performances by not only young stars, but also seasoned Campion alumni actors including Patria-Kaye Aarons, Peter Abrikian, Joel Bain, Michael Daley, Keiran King, Oliver Mair, Dario Marogan, Lisa Palmer, Shaniique Sinclair, Sharda Spence and Lawrence “Max” Woodham, as well as teachers Craig McNally and Sheldon McDonald. As an added treat, Campion’s live band, under the direction of teacher and musician Karen Armstrong, will accompany the performances.

Actor Keiran King says the story of “Cindy” is not your usual Cinderella story at all, but something much better. He explains: “Once upon a time, in a land pretty close to home, there was a poor, put-upon girl named Cindy, who lived with her two stuck-up stepsisters, Gizada and Guinep, and her scheming stepmother, Madam Flatfoot. Oh, and her father, Henry. Mother than anything, Cindy wanted to … hmm … well, we don’t really know what Cindy wanted to do, but whatever it was, Madam Flatfoot wouldn’t allow it. She hated Cindy. She wanted her twin daughters to star in a Broadway musical, which is how they all met the famous dancer, Paul Glamour, and his mobster producer, Don Godfather. And, there’s the Ginnall, trying to get a likkle smalls off everybody, and Gang Gang, the retired fairy Godmother … you know what? Just make sure you watch the show. You’ll figure it out soon enough, and enjoy it too.”

“Cindy” has a limited run of January 7-17 with select evening shows during the week, and matinee and nightly performances on weekends. A special gala night featuring past and present Campion teachers in surprise cameo roles is also being planned for January 8. General tickets cost $1000, and gala tickets $2000. Tickets are available at the Campion main office, Gym Liguanea, Indigo Boutique, Loshusan Plaza and all Cannonball Cafes and Subway restaurants.

For more information and group rates, please email campiondevelopmentoffice@gmail.com or call 361-2744 or 927-9555.

White Witch is directed by Douglas Prout, and was originally written by Jane Crichton, with additional material added by David Tulloch and Cameron Anderson. Described as a musical that’s riddled with rich historical components, White Witch reportedly promises to be enlightening, uplifting and educational, a play which embraces the future of theatre in western Jamaica. The White Witch of Rose Hall is a long-told story of fear and myth, and the White Witch play offers a new perspective to the little-known side of the notorious Annie Palmer. This musical will be filled with ancestral imagery, energetic dances and stirring performances of guile and passion.

White Witch’s cast of over 20 includes students drawn from several schools across St. James, and most of them will be performing in front of a live audience for the very first time. The cast also includes Philip Clarke, David Tulloch, Marlon Brown, Keiran King, Karla Josephs, Coleen Lewis and the Fairfield Youth Troupe.

Theatre fans in Western Jamaica, listen out for more on this play soon. The White Witch play is being sponsored by Rose Hall Developments Limited. Proceeds from the show will go towards projects being undertaken by the Montego Bay-based charitable organization – the Committee for the Upliftment of the Mentally Ill .

Thinking of the world as a stage is a good place to start. In Aston Cooke’s world, to be Jamaican is to be a performer. His new play, Me and Mi Chapsie, is a humorous treatise on that idea. The chapsie is Donald (Everaldo Creary), a deejay in a popular inner-city dancehall. Popular, that is, among the blue-collar, red-haired crowd. The woman he belongs to, divorced ad executive Marilyn Simpson, lives many stone throws away in Norbrook, where they don’t really throw stones at all. They meet when Marilyn gets invited by her co-worker to a party in downtown Kingston … more