Carolyn Johnson, Freelance Writer
André Morris, Utech Theatre Ensemble dramatises 'Belly Woman/Memoirs of a Slave Ship' at Speechfest. - Winston Sill photos
SpeechFest was the only place to be for festival on Thursday night. A full car park, a packed Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre and laughter that could be heard from outside the venue were testament to this.
The event, hosted by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), was a part of the National Festival of the Arts concert series held at their 'home field'. The series features award-winning entries from the national festival's speech, dance, drama and traditional folk competitions.
The spoken word
On Thursday, it was all about the spoken word in dub, standard English, storytelling, Jamaican stand-up comedy and Jamaican dialect, presented in solo or ensemble. There was comedy, reflection and satire as the night featured 21 items, including 10 dub poetry entries.
'Militant', performed by a cast from Glenmuir High School, was a thought-provoking piece on the crime situation in Jamaica. The piece began with a mother crying for her son. Dressed in camouflage pants and black merinos, the group, in a well-choreographed and synchronised performance, stated that we need to get militant.
The Ascot High School saw the nation's predicament a little differently. In 'This is Different', the male ensemble said: "This is different. Is jus' not de same twist. De one where de Government nah go get dis". In their opinion, it is the citizens who contribute to the nation's problems and are to receive as much blame as the Government.
Cries of parents
Dane Campbell from the University of Technology makes a statement about 'Politics and Corruption' at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's National Festival of The Arts Speechfest.
There were also the cries of parents for their children. One mother almost had a nervous breakdown when her 16-year-old daughter Sasha starts dating a Rastaman who gets her pregnant, then leaves her. Though the three 'little' women from Stony Hill Primary School beg the daughter to listen, they are left lamenting, "Me nuh kno wha happen to Sasha".
Roy Lawrence of Trelawny faced a similar predicament in 'Alright Gal', one of his three Jamaican dialect pieces. Lawrence simply gives up, declaring "alright gal", as he comes home to see his daughter packed and moving out to live with a man who abuses her.
On the lighter side was the piece, 'Confusion'. "What a confusion wit Sharon," four friends from Innswood High School said as they told their story about falling for the same girl. The four young men all took turns playing the drum, switching smoothly without breaking the dub poetry, the same way Sharon has played them.
Acute Stress Disorder
Rosseau Primary's surprise item during intermission definitely cured the audience's 'Acute Stress Disorder'. The piece showed three women's plights after they mortgaged their houses, sold their cars and despite warnings from their church, invested the money in an alternative investment scheme. "Gi me back me money!" they shouted threateningly.
On the subject of money, Pastor Davian Grant was nothing but a gold digger. Quoting from the new testament of Mavado 4:3, Pastor said: "Money don't change me, me a money changer". He told the congregation "Pastor must jive" and being a simple man, all he wants is a BMW 3-series with rims and leather interior. In a sermon full of mispronunciations, talking in tongues, dipping and falling, pastor told the congregation they should be cutting many things out of their lives. He concluded that they should cut obeah, bad mind and "who nuh like me, cut".
'I Want to Go to Foreign' says Jessell Jemison, a student of Goshen All-Age School, in a brilliant dramatisation of a real-life situation involving two boys who attempted to board a flight in Montego Bay.'
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