A State of Affairs centres on the life of a couple, both of whom are in their second marriage. The husband has cheated on his wife, and is now in the proverbial ‘dog house’. He is deeply concerned about his increasing and compulsive urges to cheat on his wife, so, in an attempt to save his marriage and protect his wife from inevitable pain, he seeks counselling from the church.

I found A State of Affairs’ storyline and dialogue to be quite weak and unbelievable. Jerry Benzwick, who plays the husband, did not do a good job, as his acting seemed too unnatural and staged; just about all his punch lines and jokes flopped.

Sakina Deer plays the role of Benzwick’s wife in A State of Affairs. I had seen her in 2009 in Patrick Brown’s “Diana”, and was quite impressed by her deaf-mute role in that play. Knowing what she is capable of, given this previous role, I was utterly disappointed at her performance in A State of Affairs, as she failed to sparkle.

When veteran actress, Ruth HoShing, was finally introduced to the proceedings, she literally saved the day and woke up the patrons. She injected life and humor into an otherwise weak production, and did an excellent job in her roll as a ‘Senior Counsellor’.

Despite this however, I still did not feel as though I got value for my time and money, and would not recommend this play to anyone. If I were to rate it, I would give it 3 out of 10.

Reviewed by S.P.

Among the talented cast is none other than entertainment diva Amelia ‘Milk’ Sewell, who (along with Nadia Khan) will tackle the role of the sultry ‘Gillian Forbes’. Gillian’s seduction of the very married Danny Bryan (played by Peter Lloyd and Jerry Benzwick) propels the lifelong debate of whether a woman can rape a man, and forces her to defend her actions in a court room so dramatic that audiences can’t help but deliver their own verdicts!

AGAINST HIS WILL, which is directed by Douglas Prout, sees Peter Lloyd breaking his haitus from live theatre, to reprise the role of Bryan, and he is joined by Nadean Rawlins who will tackle the role of prosecuting attorney Rachel Robinson. Jean Paul Menou plays defense attorney Lincoln Jacobs, while veteran actress Marguerite Newland handles the role of Judge Buchanan. Young dynamo, Sakina Deer, plays the role of Lloyd’s wife, Heather Bryan.

AGAINST HIS WILL plays at the Theatre Place on Haining Road from Wednesday to Saturday at 8 p.m., and on Sundays at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

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.

Christopher Hutchinson’s portrayal of the character “the Candyman” in Patrick Brown’s DIANA play comes pretty close to the coveted mark. Candyman is a character that the audience loves to hate. Hutchinson plays the antagonist who causes the life of the main protagonist to go into a tailspin. He does it with so much conviction that members of the audience openly throw verbal tantrums at the actor while he’s on stage. When an actor can move an audience to such an extent then we know that the actor has delivered big time. You know that the actor has his audience eating out of his hands.

The boiling point is reached when the Candyman not only uses his ill-gotten gains to force Doggie to agree to Candyman spending a night with Doggie’s woman Diana, but also has the temerity to insist that Doggie has to watch the act. The audience goes berserk when the Candyman appears to get his way, and Doggie is reduced to a little wimp.

The young, energetic and exciting cast of DIANA is led by Camille Davis in the role of ‘Diana’. She is well supported by Glen ‘Titus’ Campbell as Pops, Courtney Wilson as Doggie, Sakina Deer (alternating with Terrian Dias) as a deaf/mute go-go dancer who goes by the name Cher, and of course, Christopher Hutchinson as the Candyman.

Writer, Patrick Brown, takes the audience on a roller coaster ride of emotions in the laugh-a-line comedy. Award winning director Trevor Nairne has once again crafted a gem of a production, and again shows why he is widely regarded as the doyen of directing in Jamaican theatre. The actors gel together like a well-oiled machine and deliver a consistently high quality, believable performance each night … loaded with laugh-out-loud (LOL) comedy.

DIANA currently plays each week at the Centerstage Theatre in New Kingston – Wed-Fri (8 p.m.) and Sat./Sun. (5 p.m. and 8 p.m.)

Directed by award winning director Trevor Naire, and described as a “romantic comedy”, the story revolves around Diana, an attractive go-go dancer who seemed to have been born to dance. But her insanely jealous boyfriend Doggie hates to see any other man come anywhere near Diana, which is impossible for her to avoid given her job, and especially given how attractive she looks and how she is at her craft.

Popular dancehall star Candyman develops a particular liking for Diana … well Diana’s body really. As luck would have it for the Candyman, Doggie finds himself on the wrong side of the law, and Candyman has evidence which could put him away in jail for a long time. But Candyman is a reasonable man … he offers Doggie a choice – spend jail time, or agree to Candyman spending one night in bed with Diana. Before Doggie could even digest that, the Candyman ups the ante … Doggie has to watch the “act”!

Diana stars Camille Davis (as Diana), Glen ‘Titus’ Campbell, Courtney Wilson, Christopher Hutchinson and Sakina Deer.

Yet with all those achievements, Brown still thrives to refresh his efforts with each work. When DIANA opens at Centrestage on Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 5pm & 8pm, Brown explores the often misunderstood and maligned life of artistes known as go-go or exotic dancers. In the process, he created one of the most interesting characters ever seen on the local stage – an attractive deaf-mute dancer. One of the highlights of the production is actually how this deaf-mute individual is able to communicate with the other actors on stage and the audience, and the number of hilarious moments he is able to milk from those interactions. The talented young thespian Camille Davis has been cast in the title role.

Davis has built up an impressive dossier of achievements on the local stage over the last few years, with leading roles in such blockbuster hits as the recently completed SHEEP IN WOLF’S CLOTHING and several other Jambiz Productions.

DIANA actually had a short run back in 2001 – then called Dirty Diana. The situations explored in the work are as relevant today as they were back then – enticing the producers to give it a second life on stage eight years on wards.

The 2001 staging featured radio personality Sherando Ferril in the title role, alongside Glen ‘Titus’ Campbell, Nadia Khan, the late Charles Hyatt and American hunk Dexter Hammet as Baby Face. Pop singer Farenheit replaced Hammet towards the latter part of the run in November of that year. News Talk 93′s sizzling hot host Denise Hunt alternated with both Ferril and Khan.

The production created quite a stir back then, with a lively debate regarding a decision with which the main protagonist struggled. Diana’s boyfriend of many years Doggie runs into some trouble and is given a lifeline by the main antagonist Baby Face – spend jail time or agree to his woman spending a night in bed with Baby Face. And if that weren’t bad enough Baby Face raised the temperature by demanding that Doggie watch the act unfold. Audience members got dragged into the storyline, openly offering suggestions from both sides of the spectrum … heightening the drama unfolding on stage.

The 2009 revival will see Glen Campbell as the only surviving member of the original cast. Then he played ‘Doggie’, but has now been entrusted with the more “senior” role of Pops, played then by the inimitable Charles Hyatt. The cast also includes Jambiz regulars Courtney Wilson as Doggie, and Christopher Hutchinson as Candyman (Baby Face). Another bright spark on the local theatre scene Sakina Deer (who prefers to be known simply as Sakina) makes a special appearance as Cher – an attractive deaf-mute go-go dancer. Sakina has appeared primarily in Basil Dawkins produced plays, and productions mounted by the Jamaica Musical Theatre Company.

Award winning director Trevor Nairne has again been called upon to lend his creative genius to yet another local production. Nairne’s achievement in local theatre has become legendary, gaining the ongoing respect of his peers, actors and the audience.

After its July 29th opening, DIANA will then play Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8pm and on Sundays at 5pm and 8pm. it will also have two performances on Emancipation Day (August 1) and Independence Day (August 6).

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.