Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
Left: Rosie Murray plays Pet in Dayne MacDonald's 'One Night of Sunshine'. Deon Silvera (in background) plays Sunshine. Right: Winston Bell as Cliffy and Deon Silvera as Sunshine in a scene from the play 'One Night of Sunshine' now playing at the Little Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Avenue. - PHOTOS BY WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
DAYNE MACDONALD'S One Night of Sunshine, directed by Carol Lawes, is an entertaining production which marries suspense, comedy and drama reasonably well. The production features three of Jamaica's most respected actors, and another who has the potential to join their ranks, or succeed them.
As such, One Night of Sunshine shines reasonably well in the talent department. It features Deon Silvera as Sunshine, Rosie Murray as Pet, Winston 'Bello' Bell as Cliffy and Tesfa Edwards as Al.
The play is produced by Ellis International, the producers of Tings A Gwaan, and is currently playing at the Little Little Theatre on Tom Redcam Avenue.
One Night of Sunshine is the tale of a family affair, and affairs within families. It features two sisters, Sunshine and Pet, along with Pet's husband Al, and his cousin Cliffy. The intermingling of lust serves to further muddy the waters and complicate these relationships.
HUMOUR
The production's strongest element is the humour served up in some often witty banter. Humour alone cannot sustain this piece, however, as it has a more ambitious project. MacDonald has presented complex characters whose motivations vary enough to create an interesting interplaying of characters.
Though not quite becoming a morality play, One Night of Sunshine gives something of a scant glance at the complexity of morality. None of the characters can be comfortably characterised as completely evil, or completely good.
Unfortunately, none of them is completely likeable either and thus the production fails to produce as strong an emotional impact as it could.
When the characters are good, they are not quite loveable and when they are bad, they are not bad enough to become people we love to hate. As such, there is not enough to create an emotional investment and so the catharsis is lessened.
Where the production falters is that MacDonald's skill at rendering a good line does not translate to his fully eking out the dramatic potential of the script which needs further tightening to make it sleeker and allow it to move more smoothly. Though the story involves rape, drugs, and corruption, the issues are seemingly treated as incidental, instead of being fully exploited to create a richer script.
Additionally, a few of the plot leaps allow the movement to land precariously and teeter toward incomprehension.
BUILDS SLOWLY
The movement builds relatively slowly in Act I then hurtles toward a cliffhanger ending in Act II as it attempts to pile in some action and suspense.
Furthermore, the playwright's treatment of rape is rather problematic. Though there is a clear indication that the production takes the issue seriously, it seems to be apologetic about this stance, suggesting that it really was not so bad.
The performances are good, but none have reached the fantastic levels that they can reach, though Murray comes the closest.
Silvera gives a good performance, but she does not tap into the magic she found to make characters like Bubbles, or even her most recent stint in Jamaica to Rhatid, unforgettable pieces of theatre. Edwards and Bell both give easy, engaging performances, but neither is riveting.
Michael Lorde's set brings with it a sense of déjà vu. Though it is a good design and uses the limited space well, for the most part, it feels as though it was already used in a Basil Dawkins production. As such, though it is competent, it does nothing to enhance the play.
Yet, overall, the play profits from a good mix of talent to create an entertaining work. It doesn't quite shine with a blinding light, but it glows.
