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The Road Make To Walk (play review) By Zen Dionne Jarrette, Trinidad Guardian, Thursday, July 5, 2007 |
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The only way you could spoil a show that featured not only the amazing music of the late Lord Kitchener but talents like Mavis John, Kurtis Gross and Glen Davis was the way Davlin Thomas did: With bad dialogue. The Road Make to Walk was Thomas's tribute to Kitch at the Little Carib Theatre, a musical centred around characters in Kushkumar's Bar who each have their own road to walk in life. They each told their life stories and anecdotes through the music of Lord Kitchener, who was referred to as The Professor. All the while a Bookman hovered and recorded sins for Satan, doing this so well and eerily that even the audience eyed him nervously. The setting made one feel truly transported to the snackettes of old, and it was refreshing to see these different voices putting their spin on the Grandmaster's classics. It was when they stopped singing and started talking that things fell apart somewhat, and this reviewer was glad the road was indeed made to walk: or escape for that matter. Most of the lines, though well delivered, seemed contrived and took away from the grandeur of all else. It felt at times like Thomas was riding Kitchener's coattails, not celebrating him. Particularly grating was Davis's character Clem delivering the line that bringing the Professor to sing in the small Kushkumar's was like 'putting the sky in ah LLB bottle'. That was scrounging for a depth that just wasn't there. That and one long and tasteless flatulence joke delivered by Kushkumar, played by Arnold "Pinny" Goindhan, were cringeworthy moments. Excellent, however, was anything at all Mavis John, who played Maggie, did. Even sitting still she shone and Davis's rendition of Love In The Cemetery got wealthy applause. It was accompanied by an innovative shadow play illustrating the song: A man's silhouette running for his life while ghoulish hands grabbed at him. Gross was also commanding and played his character, King, to the hilt. He brought across the difficulty in King's life with stunning clarity. When the bar patrons all got together to play a game called Life, a makeshift version of Truth or Dare, King revealed he had committed a murder. His road to walk may have been be to Carrera Island, and Gross brought across his fear and uncertainty. Dancers came in intermittently and were a welcome presence on-stage. They brilliantly illustrated the songs through their movements and encompassed all dancing styles. Tickling was their backup to John's singing while they did a fancy sailor dance with oversized phalluses. The play worked its way through Sugar Bum Bum, The Carnival Is Over, Tie-Tongue Mopsy, When A Man Is Poor, Trouble In Arima, and of course The Road Make To Walk, among others. The grand finale was the entrance of the St James Tripolians to serenade at the curtain call, a perfect ending. Afterwards, the audience chipped out behind them through the lobby, into the street, and down the road. It was 'mas in June'. Though there were some specific problem areas with Thomas's production, commendation must be given to the fact that he dared to try something different. |