The first play in the collection, 'Chupucabra', is easily the most engaging of the five while the second play, 'The Massacuraman', falls furthest from its ambitions.

Title: Caribbean Mythology and Modern Life: Five One Act Plays for Young People

Playwright: Paloma Mohamed

Publisher: UNESCO and The Majority Press Ltd.

Reviewer: Tanya Batson-Savage

Caribbean Mythology and Modern Life is an interesting example of taking "ole time sinting" to deal with the modern issues that plague our society. The collection of five one- act plays written by Paloma Mohamed deals with the issues of AIDS, violence, truancy, race, religion, tradition and gender stereotypes.

The first play in the collection, 'Chupucabra', is easily the most engaging of the five while the second play, 'The Massacuraman', falls furthest from its ambitions. Nonetheless, the collection provides great fodder to engage young adults and teens with the folklore, while dealing with the issues they confront in modern life.

Additionally, publication of plays in the Caribbean is a rare occurrence and so Mohamed's collection ought to be a very welcome work for students of drama, whether those preparing for the CSEC examinations or those who engage in drama as an extra-curricular activities.

Chupucabra engages HIV/AIDS issues from the perspectives of bloodsuckers that emerge from the various racial groups that create the Caribbean cultural soup. As such, its characters include Obayifo (African male or female bloodsucker), Ole Higue (but is in her Guyanese form rather than the Jamaican version who sucks breath), and Trinidad's Socuyant.

The interesting use of mythology provides an innovative take on the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, while the play creates a good platform for building awareness about the disease, it does not explore the issue, sufficiently. As such, the play tackles issues such as the need for abstinence and the rampant spread of the disease. Its discussion of the idea that one can tell the disease by looking is intriguingly created as the bloodsuckers converge on two unsuspecting young people:

Chedipe: Growls He is a young and virile male! Look at him!

Socu: And the girl. Fresh and rosy like a doux-doux mango!

All except Jara: They don't look sick!

They all advance again

Jara: But you can't see inside the blood!

All freeze.

Vetala: He is right.

Ol Higue: But they look sooooooooo healthy!

Logaroo: Just like the one who nearly poison me tonight! (Spits in memory.) Was looking even rosier than these two! (Stumbles away.)

Unfortunately, as with many productions which attempt to tackle the HIV/AIDS issue, Chupucubra is disappointing in the end, forgetting the magical power it wields and falling to preaching instruction instead.

Another of the more successful pieces in the collection is Sukanti, which looks at a couple's attempt to transcend cultural barriers that stand in the way of their love. The play explores the value of tradition, but also the need to move beyond some of them in the need for cultural integration which needs to go beyond the limits of race and ethnicity.

In 'Anancy's Way', a young boy called Nancy finds the strength to overcome bullies when he employs his brain rather than his brawn. A Fair Made's tale explores Amerin-dian culture looking at the tragic fate of a young girl who tries to go beyond the gender dictates of her society.

As such, Caribbean Mythology and Modern Life provides several elements of Caribbean folk culture that young people can sink their dramatic teeth into. It makes a welcome addition to the emaciated body of published dramatic works.