Nyanda Cammock (left) and Christopher 'Johnny' Daley entertain in the sketch 'U Tek' from the comedy revue Mo' Bay Vibez. - Contributed
The vibes have been very positive at Montego Bay's Fairfield Theatre recently. Founded in 1975, the theatre is now led by chairman Douglas Prout, successor to the first chairman, the legendary Paul Methuen.
Prout started his theatre career with Fairfield the year after it was established and is now the chief director of its productions. He is also a well-established actor who recently took up scriptwriting and his work has been produced. Much of his life is consumed with theatre business and for his dedication he has been awarded a Bronze Musgrave Medal.
He has received Methuen awards for acting, directing, producing and songwriting and, in addition, numerous Actor Boy nominations for acting, directing, lighting design and production.
That list of achievements might suggest otherwise but Prout is no one-man band. He has always had a strong team to work with though, for years, there was no one with the many theatrical talents - nor the concentration - to match him.
Until now.
Enter, from stage right, young David Tulloch.
Son of a well-known St James politician (hence his love for performance?), and with years of training with the Jamaica Junior Theatre and the Jamaica Musical Theatre Company (JMTC),Tulloch returned to Montego Bay after university studies and quickly joined Fairfield Theatre.
Preparing for singing career
He is now celebrating his 10th year in show business and his skills in the profession seem to be still growing. Already established as an actor, director, producer, composer and lyricist, he is preparing to launch his singing career.
That last bit of news comes from the printed programme for Mo'Bay Vibez, the revue now playing at Fairfield Theatre. The blurb on Tulloch continues: "He is one of the driving forces behind the current revitalisation of the Fairfield Theatre, gifted and multi-talented and the heir-apparent as the next mad scientist in residence."
With Prout and Tulloch on the Fairfield team, the theatre's future seems secure, world economic crisis notwithstanding. The two are the creators of Mo'Bay Vibez, a musical production which should be a potent anti-depressant for those who the crisis has touched - and that's probably everyone on the globe.
The 'Mo' in the title refers to last year's Fairfield Theatre revue, Bay Vibez, which entertained thousands both at the Fairfield and at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts, Mona, where the production played for a weekend. That original production was excellent and, since one good turn deserves another, a sequel was created.
High on energy
From the moment the cast hits the stage for the opening number, it is clear that the production will be high on energy. The eponymous opening song is both lyrically clever and melodious. Like three of the other musical numbers in the show, it was written by Prout and Tulloch. The latter wrote both the words and the music of the remaining three.
Included among the 22 items which make up the two-hour long revue, the seven songs are staged with dance choreographed by Barbara McDaniel. She makes the performers look good, not too hard a task for the young, fit cast.
Its members are Christopher 'Johnny' Daley, Dahlia Harris, Philip Clarke, Nyanda Cammock, Marlon Brown, Malika Bryce, Tyane Robinson, Charlene Cowan and -wouldn't you know it? - the ubiquitous Tulloch. (He and Cowan are in the alternate cast, so are not on every night.)
The cast plays many characters believable enough, in their expectedly exaggerated form, but the director placed extra responsibility on the best-known performers, Harris and Daley, and they shone extra bright.
For the 20 or so different locations in which the skits take place, two or three significant items are introduced onto the stage which keeps the same background throughout - coloured, graffiti-filled flats. Five painted boxes serve multi purposes.
Over the years, the most memorable revues have been not just comical but satirical. Tony Gambrill's 8 o' clock Jamaica Time series, for example, poked fun at recognisable figures (usually politicians).
Safe zone
Mo'Bay Vibez plays it safe and steers clear of politics - the skits are on general human foibles and failings. Many are merely extended, often corny, jokes. The strength of the items, therefore, is not in the story, but in the directing and acting.
Some of the funnier situations involve a haggler at the airport who gets a priest to smuggle in a foot-long vibrator under his robe; a harassed doctor who has to deal with a woman (offstage) having multiple births and an onstage one who has orgasms when she sneezes; a newly married young man who keeps phoning his father for advice on lovemaking; and a hypocritical father who finally accepts his "prodigal daughter" back home when he discovers she's wealthy.
There are a few solo sermons and songs about serious issues, mainly the physical and moral conditions of Montego Bay. The song Bless MoBay (Tulloch's words and music) seemed a particular favourite of some in the audience.
In a post-show chat with Prout and Tulloch, The Gleaner learnt that a big upcoming piece at Fairfield is a musical based on Jane Crichton's play about the infamous Annie Palmer, the White Witch of Rose Hall. With its new energy and improving talent, the production house could do marvellous things with that powerful story.
Mo'Bay Vibez plays at the theatre on weekends.