Ehrhardt hopes for movie

Debra Ehrhardt got a standing ovation on the first night of Jamaica Farewell, which has been running at The Theatre place on Haining Road.

The following morning, Ehrhardt revealed plans to make the one-woman play into a movie. Pre-production is set to begin within the next two years.

Ehrhardt said she wrote the play because nobody in America would offer her a job because of her Jamaican accent, and because she didn't want to change herself or her accent, she wrote her own story. "We have some many amazing stories to tell here in Jamaica and I wanted to write mine in such a way to cater to everybody. It's written in English with a little bit of understandable dialect for others to interpret." she said.

The play is four years old and the actress said she has performed it in Bermuda, Mexico, Canada and the United States. According to her, the story is of a little girl and her dreams, a topic, which she said everyone can relate to.

Good reception

The reception to the play in Jamaica has been just as good as it has been overseas.

"I'm on the stage for 90 minutes and, at the end, people don't want to leave because they want to know what happened after I reach America. Dem bex bout the end so I will probably write a Jamaica Farewell Part 2 to continue the story," she said.

The stage was very sparse with furnishings. This, Ehrhardt said, was deliberate because she wanted people to use their imagination to see the story.

The play wasn't initially intended to be a one-woman performance. However, Ehrhardt said she had trouble finding enough authentic Jamaicans in Los Angeles to play each part.

The idea to make Jamaica Farewell into a movie was also in the original plans. Ehrhardt intended to write a movie script, initially, but thought a play might create a stir, making it more likely that the script would be picked up.

Performing in front of a Jamaican audience is no easy feat, especially when the storyline surrounds a turmoil-filled time in the country's history.

"The truth is when I'm performing in front of thousands of Americans I don't care, I just throw myself into it. But when I was onstage I was afraid because these are my people, so I get a little nervous. I just hoped and prayed that none of the persons I was talking about was in the audience to run up onstage or get offended," Ehrhardt joked. "To me, it was all about the art," she said.

- Garfene Grandison