Remnants of Gideon draws the curtains on National Theatre Arts Festival

What would you endure for the pleasures of a comfortable life? Would you sacrifice your happiness?{{more}}

This was just one of the questions the drama group the Remnants of Gideon had spectators asking themselves as they brought the curtains down on the Bank of St. Vincent and Grenadines and Ministry of Culture National Theater Arts Festival.

The group, which made its debut in the Festival this year, is a branch of the Exalt Him Worship Ministries. They presented “The Price of Happiness” on December 2, 3 and 4 at the Peace Memorial Hall.

Their presentation featured a family: the patriarch Andrew St. Hill played by Christopher Peters, a controlling and abusive politician; the mother and wife Carol St. Hill played by Shennika Shallow, a former prostitute saved from a ‘destitute’ life by the graces of Andrew; and Carol’s daughter Macy played by Seretha Mckie who is being abused physically and sexually by Andrew.

The play was complemented by a strong and protective Kay, Carol’s sister; Quia, (Amanda Beach) Macy’s quirky friend, who Andrew also became involved with; Kal (Gerard Caine), Macy’s boyfriend, a compassionate Christian partner; and Pastor Maya played by Randy Boucher.

The audience was given a glimpse into the life of the St. Hill’s where Carol, Andrew’s wife, is being ignored and abused by him. She is also ignorant to the fact that her husband was not only cheating on her, but was abusing her child, his step daughter, sexually.

Macy, in efforts to help her mother see Andrew’s abusive ways towards her, became withdrawn and was dismissed as a rebellious teen. Carol, on the other hand, was dealing with unforgiveness after getting pregnant as an active church member, and dealing with the harsh criticism of church folks.

When Macy became pregnant with her stepfather’s child, with the support of her boyfriend Kal, she ran away to Trinidad to start a new life.

According to writer and director of the piece, Sheree Edward, the main message behind the play is the importance of forgiveness.

“The main message of the play is forgiveness and genuine love. It’s because of unforgiveness Carol lost sight of what was important. Andrew succumbed to his abusive ways because of forgiveness Kal gave Macy a chance to start over,” Edward said.

“I was inspired by a book I was reading at the time. It was about forgiveness and the effects of unforgiveness. Also, a song I heard by Jaci Valasquez “Love will find you”. I realized how dangerous it is to be full of nothing,” she continued.

The undoubtable ability of God to solve life’s problems was also captured in the play as the Pastor Maya, Kal and Kay characters testified to finding strength in God’s unfailing love. The play ended with encouragement from the actors who urged viewers to report cases of child abuse, that true love persists despite of faults and challenges and to trust in God and abide in his love, which gives strength.

Edward added that the group received positive feedback on the production.

“The feedback was mostly all positive. People enjoyed it to the max! They felt the message was clear and to the point. One lady said it was her story and she was amazed at how well we captured it, and as a result came back the following night.”

“Some people measure the success of a show by the gate receipts, but for me it could have been 10 people. I am satisfied that that the actors, actresses and production crew delivered nothing but excellence,” Edward stated.

Edward on behalf of the group Remnants thanked Kevin Rodrigues, Veronica Charles, Ruthlyn Alves, Grace Peters, Courts and Aeropost for their contribution to their production.