It's a 'rhythmical', not a musical

Run Di Track is dubbed a 'rhythmical' and, with its popular music talent show storyline, there is plenty song and dance. Sabrena McDonald says "it is not a musical, like Beauty and the Beast. The idea came because a lot of us are poets. It is to explore the material that has come from the poets into dancehall".

So, she says, "I don't want people to come and say 'oonu cyaah sing'. Because we are not singing, we are singjaying". The songs are original and McDonald points out the influence of old-school reggae and dancehall. Wright wants the songs recorded. "Them have the vibration, the cool and deadly vibe ... maybe next time we come with a IAM music," he said.

Damion Radcliffe, as both individual 'Run Di Track' contestant 'Smooth' and also director of the production, responds with an emphatic affirmative when The Sunday Gleaner asks if there are challenges in the dual roles. As a director "they are very familiar with you. And when you wear a different hat it is hard for them to adjust".

Serious trust

Radcliffe also points out the responsibility, as "you have a core of people who trust you to shape them and trust you to take what you say as gospel. They trust your eye".

"It is a serious trust."

It is not Radcliffe's first time directing IAM members, as "I am the director in the company. Because we are so small in number, some work will require that the director is onstage sometimes". He says, though, that he does get external; help at times, in the case of this 'rhythmical' to ensure "we look good, we sound good, the tracks complement our voices".

"Our strength is our theatrical side, but at the same time we show that we have range."

Radcliffe defines himself as a "trained actor/teacher", so when he is directing a production and also acting in it he his able to get outside it. "Once I have shaped the show I turn it over to the stage manager and I start to be intimate with my character, find out what makes him tick."

It is not easy and Radcliffe says in Run Di Track it is "even harder because my character sings".

And he says "when I jump in as actor I don't switch off director ... I can say 'that does not feel right. I tell them to move. When I am doing things as an actor things may have to be adjusted".

- M.C.