Emmanuel sets stage for Drama Festival ’07

Incest, infidelity, deceit and dysfunctional families – no its not another Jerry Springer episode, it’s the Emanuel High School Mesopotamia’s presentation at the opening of the 2007 Cable & Wireless schools Drama Festival last week Wednesday at the Peace Memorial Hall.{{more}}

Written by 17-year-old Andrea John and co-directed by John and teacher Andrew Young the play has certainly set a pace for this year’s festival. The opening scene took place on Sunday morning in the Jackson family’s living room.

While Mr Jackson gets ready for church, his wife irons the clothes; his two oldest daughters provide several excuses not to attend church; the youngest daughter manages to convince her father to let her to stay at home to study with a friend.

In seven scenes the play takes us through Mr Jackson losing his job, his wife’s infidelity and their eldest daughter’s romance with Jeremy who happens to be the nephew of Mrs Jackson’s lover. When the youngest daughter reported that she was raped, all eyes turned to Mrs Jackson’s lover to be perpetuator only to have Mr Jackson beating his wife’s lover unconscious then confessing “Ah me molest um”.

The ten member cast delivered and Hechford Woodley who played Jeremy gave a credible performance. The punch lines were on target, the set design and costuming was commendable. The production lived up to its name: Lies, Deceit and Hard Truth.

However, the production suffered from excessive curtain calls while the set remained unchanged throughout and there was nothing to fill the breaks between scenes. The parents didn’t quite convince us that they were a middle age couple and at times some cast members couldn’t quite stay in character.

The festival will run until November 23. The presentation ceremony will be held on November 27 when David Jackson will be honored for his contribution to the Theatre Arts in St Vincent and the Grenadines. (AC)