‘Jamaica Land We Love’ revue offers a cool drink in hot times
Published:Tuesday | August 1, 2023 | 12:09 AMMichael Reckord/Gleaner Writer
We’re living in hot times, just now. First, there’s the crime and violence. Then there’s the weather, with July reportedly having been the hottest month on record.
Among the ways people are seeking relief is by going to the Little Little Theatre. Watching Jamaica Land We Love, the revue now playing there, is like getting a cool drink for both spirit and body in the air-conditioned space.
Like clever cooks, Dahlia Harris, the show’s writer-producer, and her team toss dozens of our troubling issues and events into containers – plots as pots – add seasoning and cook up a delightful meal.
The plots/pots are 15 or 16 skits and some dance items to songs that tell stories about and make satirical comments on our affairs. The seasoning comes in the form of eye-catching costumes, music, dance, and very good acting.
The costumes attract attention by being pretty or outlandish. The pretty ones include those in Jamaica’s national colours. The outlandish ones are suitable for the farcical skits they are used in. They are too big, too small, too tight, or whatever, for everyday wear.
The bouncy music was composed by Jon Williams to Harris’ lyrics. and the performers dance to the choreography of Kevin Moore. Organising the different elements of the banquet is the director, Akeem Mignott.
He has an experienced cast to work with, and their knowledge, combined with his guidance, would be responsible for the satisfactory results. That means acting that is sometimes nuanced, sometimes over-the-top, always amusing.
Performing numerous roles, as is customary in revues, the actors are Harris, Junior Williams, Everaldo Creary, Maylynne Lowe, and Kadeem Wilson. All have been on stage (some in films) for many years, and their self-confidence results in infectious enthusiasm whether they are dancing, singing, or projecting dialogue to the back of the small theatre.
Harris takes the audience all over the country – from a traffic court line to a cook shop, to a police station, to a river with raftsmen and into several homes. These homes shift within minutes from Upper St Andrew to a middle-class residence then on to a working-class dwelling.
Everybody seems to be protesting about something. Waiting in a traffic court line, many protest at the fines they will have to pay because of some traffic offence they committed; two hoity-toity ladies complain about the domestic help; one man on the phone to radio talk show host Emily wants to sue his boss for not allowing him to work from home – as a farmer.
Not surprisingly, there is much use of the telephone since a monologue is an efficient way to get a message across. So we hear radio host Dionne Jackson Miller (played by Lowe) upbraiding the irascible Member of Parliament Everald Warmington (Creary) for his behaviour while Harris plays a sister in Jamaica thanking her sister abroad for the contents of a huge barrel she sent even though few of the barrel’s items are suitable.
In addition to the many other hats she wears, Harris is a media personality, and so she knows what’s going on in the society. Though her focus is on the negatives – the challenges we face, our foibles and failings, the hypocrisy of many, the microscope the writer uses to examine us seems to have a rose-coloured lens.
With all its problems, Jamaica is ultimately a land we love. The show is fun and for its two hours, we forget the heat outside of the theatre.