Denise Reid, Gleaner Writer

Busha, Sir Alexander Cromwell III (Germaine Jordine), tells us about life on the plantation

Michael Lorde is a self-taught set designer. He has the distinction of designing the set for the 1991 hit pantomime, 'Man Deh Yah'. An architect by profession, Lorde says designing sets comes naturally and he has been doing it for years.

The Outameni Experience is a sort of time capsule which gives patrons a virtual historical tour, thus, the various sites which portray the different eras that has made Jamaica what it is today had to be carefully constructed to illustrate this. Thus, each set depicts a different theme - from the Tainos to present-day life.

Chosen by Little-White, Lorde designed the sets for the interiors and exhibits at Outameni Experience. Lorde explains that he was told what was to be portrayed, and set about doing that job. We must mention some of the great features of the sets - dugout canoes portray the Amerindian era, the slave ship with its wooden floors and sardine-packed bodies of chained slaves; the Middle Passage, plantation life; the British era and the clock tower, represent life as we know it now. Needless to say, the sets are cleverly done.

Lorde explains, "A main problem was budgetary constraints." This prevented them from acquiring much of the material they would have preferred to use. Notwithstanding this fact, the sets came out looking spectacular.

Lorde believes the public response will be good. "I don't recall anything like this in Jamaica, it lets you know that we have a varied culture."