Edna Manley delivers good production of 'O Babylon'

Michael Reckord, Gleaner Writer

An interesting and enjoyable production of the musical O Babylon by West Indian Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott started its second and final weekend run at the Edna Manley College (EMC) on Friday.

It would be a shame if by the closing performance today the island's thousands of lovers of high-quality theatre have not seen the show. So far, unfortunately, they have stayed away in droves. Only seven went last Saturday, about two dozen last Sunday.

Those who have attended the Drama School production directed by staff member Robert 'Bobby' Clarke - perhaps best known for his directing of nine Little Theatre Movement Pantomimes - have enjoyed the experience.

The frequent and enthusiastic applause indicated as much.

There is a lot to enjoy - fine acting, colourful and authentic-looking costumes, energetic choreography, an unusual musical score and a gripping story. You could hardly ask more of any production.

At the same time, audiences will notice a simplicity to the production; it is a student effort after all. Nevertheless, a number of professional theatre practitioners contribute to the show. Apart from Clarke, there is Winston 'Bello' Bell, musical director; Dr L'Antoinette Stines, choreographer; and set designer (and co-designer of costumes) Ron Steger.

The performers include a mix of second, third and fourth-year students and graduates of the EMC's Schools of Drama and Dance. The main five actors are Damornay Roye (who plays Rufus Johnson, also called Brother Aaron); Shaneil Orr (Priscilla); Alwyn Allen (Percival Jones, also called 'Sufferer'); Paul Wilson (Rudolph Dawson or 'Rude Bwoy') and Shaneen Johnson (Virginia Small or 'Virgie').

They are all strong, and so are many others among the 30 or so persons who appear on the stone stage of the outdoor amphitheatre where the work is mounted.

Occasionally, scenes are also played offstage - at times on the steps of the venue, at times on the dirt mound beside the stage.

The outdoor setting was a good idea, since much of the action takes place in the open.

Last Sunday evening, as the show progressed, a huge full moon rose steadily in the sky directly above the theatre, helping the night's chill to remind one of the setting.

The plot

The story is about the happenings in a small Rastafarian community in 1966 at the time of the visit of Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie to Jamaica.

Rufus, a criminal, the central character, is shot by gunmen on a motor bike at the beginning of the play and left for dead. He is both nursed back to health and converted to Rastafarianism by Sufferer.

He continues to live in the Rastafarian community and gets involved when the New Zion Contractors Company attempts, with the assistance of armed thugs and the more subtly dangerous deacon (Kamal Lewis) and politician (Webster McDonald), to get the residents off their land. The developers want to build a modern 'touristy' village in the space.

With others, Webster tries to fight the developers and government, but his criminal past comes back to affect him. Besides, in the camp there are those who can't resist temptation.

Walcott suggests by his ending that there is a better place in the hills for the community.

Bell is not only the musical director, but the composer of the excellent music for 12 songs to Walcott's lyrics.

They are in the reggae or Rasta genres and The Gleaner learnt it took a bit of tweaking of some lines to adapt the author's Trinidadian rhythms to Jamaican ones.

Another dozen or so of Walcott's poems were transformed into dub poems by Clarke and the cast. The exercise should have taught the students much.

It is in line with the broad function of school productions to "provide a pivotal vehicle through which students integrate and demonstrate skills learned in the Theatre Arts Pogramme."

Pleasures of the dance

Along with the pleasures of the music come the pleasures of the dance. Dr Stines' research revealed, she told The Gleaner, that early Rastafarian dance drew on other existing dances. This led to the fortunate result that the dances in the production are quite varied.

Those familiar with Drama School productions of recent years know that Steger often designs very detailed sets. The one for O Babylon is one of his simplest: six or seven low wooden platforms create three levels on the stage, and upstage are "walls" of brown cloth with curtained openings for exits and entrances. Simple, yes, and effective.

Do go, but be warned. Sitting on the amphitheatre's stone steps for the duration of the show - it's two hour-plus - can be hard on the bottom. Take a cushion, showtime is 6:30 p.m.