Left: Sharon (Deon Silvera) comforts Rose (Audrey Reid) after the funeral of her son Johnny in 'Strength Of A Woman', held at Back Yaad, Constant Spring Road on Sunday.   Right: Rose tries to work obeah to discover her son's killer.

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Full of twists, Andrew Roach's 'Strength of A Woman' took its audience along a humorous path but reached a questionable conclusion.

Directed by Winston Bell and starring Audrey Reid as 'Rose', Deon Silvera as 'Sharon', Chris Daley as 'Johnny' and Volier Johnson as 'Mr White', Strength of a Woman held at Backyaad last Sunday night, had many patrons in stitches.

Set in the house of Mr. White, the housekeeper's son Johnny starts an affair with Mrs. Sharon White, a sex-starved ghetto girl turned socialite. The shock factor begins as Rose discovers that her God-fearing son Johnny is actually the local don's right-hand man. When Mr. White discovers the affair he puts a hit out on the boy but is beat by the don's enemies who kills Johnny. Rose and Sharon join forces to trick Mr. White and the local MP into paying an exorbitant amount for Johnny's funeral while they pocket the rest.

"If you wanna live happily ever after, how man involved?" proclaims Reid towards the end of the play. 'The strength of a woman' implies the portrait of the female characters which are the epitome of female virtuosity and strength.

However, what was presented was far from it. Rather, it was a humorous yet somewhat apt portrait of the survival of some Jamaican women. Unhappily married, Silvera's character accommodates her husband, taking his money at every turn, sending herself to school yet taking all the insults of 'ole dog' thrown at her by her husband.

She sees men as either good for sex or money, and uses her charms to take her out of the ghetto, knowing that she is a trophy displayed by her husband.

Rose who "many ships have passed through but never docked", after the birth of her son, spends her life focusing on him and her Lord. Ashamed of her past, she hides it from her son and tries to set him on the right path. As she loses her son, she questions her Lord, and commits one more sin.

While both characters show strength in putting up with the insults of the men in their lives, and dealing with a tumultuous past, their means of strength are very questionable. While Sharon takes from her husband all she can, running his business, she gets no credit, nor is she independent.

Rose shows more fortitude earning for herself and her son through hard labour. She runs from her past, turning to the black arts in her time of need. Despite their faults, the two survive all the hardships of ghetto life, living with various betrayals and plagued by rumours as in the ghetto, "dem chat yuh and mek sure yuh hear."

Seasoned veterans in the skill of tracing Silvera's character, Volier and Audrey Reid had interactive chemistry on stage that kept the audience laughing throughout. An outrageous obeah scene with Reid and Silvera kept the crowd talking after the show was done. As patrons left the venue with the sound of Shaggy's 'Strength of a Woman' playing in the background, one was left to wonder what that strength was exactly.

Left: Johnny (Chris Daley) holds a gun to the head of Mr. White (Volier Johnson) as Sharon pleads with him to stop.   Right: Johnny shares an emotional moment with his mother as he tries to comfort her. - Winston Sill photos