'Charlie's Angels' leaves Trinidadian on a high

• Visitor thoroughly enjoys Jamaican theatre

When Trinidadian native Khadijah Williams-Peters accepted the invitation from her Jamaican host to accompany her to see the Jamaican play Charlie's Angels, she was not sure how that would fit into her busy schedule.

However, she had been a fan of veteran actor Glen Campbell for a while, so on that basis, she agreed to tag along. And wasn't she glad she did ... if her letter to the actor the following day is anything to go by.

Williams-Peters was in the audience on Friday, October 21, and wrote to Glen the following day thus:

"Hi Mr Campbell,

As promised, I am writing to express my appreciation for your artwork. As I shared with you after the show, the performance was refreshing, inspiring, captivating, empowering, engaging, of high standard and was really worth my time (and I am not being over generous as this is my honest feeling). You left me on a high. I told my friend Wendy that it was the icing on the cake for me, as I leave for Trinidad today. Keep up the great work and I will certainly be following up on your work. The entire cast was excellent. Once again, thank you for a fulfilling experience and I wish that you and your team will reap great rewards."

- Khadijah Williams-Peters

The production, which has been characterised as "revealing and unforgettable" by theatre critic Tyrone Reid, has been playing to appreciative audiences since opening night on July 29.

Reid made the point that the production was so funny that "several days after leaving the theatre I was still laughing". He further made the point that Charlie's Angels is a play "brimming with delicious surprises and clever and funny details ... a well-wrought piece of work that indisputably finds Brown raising the bar for local comedy writers - and you expect nothing less from the reputedly prolific playwright".

Apart from comic actor par excellence Glen 'Titus' Campbell, the cast also includes the effervescent Camille Davis, the deceptively reserved Sharee McDonald-Russell and the sassy Teisha Duncan.

Davis plays the leading antagonist - psychopath Shanika, who entraps Charlie Wood (Glen Campbell) and pledges to make him pay for the romantic wrongs he has done to her. Poor Charlie finds out soon enough that she has invited an audience to witness his payback. On the guest list is Charlie's dear wife Keisha (Sharee McDonald-Russell), as well as another "victim" in the person of go-go dancer, Bubbles (Teisha Duncan).

Shanika leads the pack, hell bent on making the "dawg" Charlie pay dearly. He is lured to her apartment and held hostage.

Among the paraphernalia in Shanika's apartment is a curious-looking guillotine - with a rather strange opening. Christened 'Bobbitt', the guillotine boasts an opening just below the waist, designed to sharply remove a particular member of the human body. Just to see Charlie's face when he is introduced to Bobbitt is by itself worth the full admission price - a showstopper if there ever was one.

Charlie's traumatic awakening frequently swings between hope and despair. The invited audience of female "victims" surprisingly oscillate in their decisions, frequently finding it difficult to arrive at a consensus on what to do with Charlie.

The outstanding directorial work of theatre veteran Trevor Nairne OD shines through like a beacon with all the actors displaying that they are truly on top of their game, and fully grasp the characters they have been asked to breathe life into. A truly outstanding ensemble work from a seasoned and well-prepared team. Nairne is the artistic director in residence at Centerstage and was also responsible for all the creative elements when the play was first staged in the Summer of 2004, then titled Last Stand.

Charlie's Angels continues its limited run at the Centerstage Theatre, playing Tuesdays to Fridays at 8 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. The box office opens on show days from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.