Marcia Rowe, Gleaner Writer

Colleen Lewis and Rodney Campbell in a scene from 'Season Rice: A Comedic Revue' held at The Pantry Playhouse, in St Andrew - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

'Season Rice: A Comedic Revue' is the latest production to grace the stage of The Pantry Playhouse, in St Andrew. However, last Saturday's performance was somewhat bland, despite servings of spectacle, some good acting and singing, and sparks of thought-provoking language.

While theatre critics use certain criteria to determine the genre of a production, it is the response of the audience, at times, that ultimately determines whether the performance of a comedy is successful or not. So, was Amba Chevannes and Karl Williams' "Season Rice: A Comedic Revue" successful?

Season Rice, comprises 25 'ingredients', exploring political, religious and social values relevant to Jamaica. Included in the pot are 'Time fi Cook' and 'Time Fi Nyam' in which Chevannes and Williams incorporated the concept of a Grace Kitchens program to satirise political happenings: the friction in the People's National Party, dual citizenship and the cassava issue in the Jamaica Labour Party. For these two acts, the performance was creditable and the reaction of the audience seemed to verify this.

Immaturity

On the other hand, the attention given (as three different ingredients) to the light bulb saga is not warranted. Neither does the emphasis on, and the portrayal of the immaturity, of the parties involved in the actual saga. In fact, it came across somewhat tasteless, thus producing sputterings of laughter.

'Selector God' and 'Revival' are the titles of the 'ingredients' used to address religion. Both were creatively written and brilliantly executed. The laughter was sustained for the most part, especially to the advice given by the sole performer, Craig McNally. He advised all regular churchgoers that there is no need to go to church so often "give the other sinners a chance".

'Revival' is a disguised version of the bulb saga. The use of adaptation of songs often sung in churches as the medium for the dialogue was rather entertaining.

Under the umbrella of social values, the playwrights satirise relationships in 'The Hunt' and 'Man versus beast', which, at first, appeared to be gender biased, but its creative twist towards the end makes it worth seeing.

Another very entertaining and, by far, the tastiest ingredient is 'Bashment Girl Meets Nanny'. The sustained applause and laughter long into the blackout is a clear indicator that this was an audience pleaser and that taste lingered.

Playing several roles in any one production can be a daunting task and so the cast of six must be commended. Nadeen Rawlins, Lawrence Woodham, Sakina Deer, Rodney Campbell, Colleen Lewis and Craig McNally did great justice to some roles. McNally's best performance was in 'Selector God', while Lewis showed her talent in 'Customer Service'.

Simple, yet practical

The cast was guided by Michael Daley who used the simple, yet practical, set of Ron Seger effectively. The very flexible set consists of mainly cubes that are used as counters to cook on, to seats to sit on. But, alas, the seriousness that the set suggested contrasted with the genre of the play.

Costumes were excellent and produced the desired effect and result. Quiendell Ferguson has been credited for costumes in the programme but it is not clear if this is for construction or design. But whoever designed the costumes, congratulations on a job well done.

Although 'Season Rice: A Comedic Revue' is not 'tumble over', or 'laugh-until-you-cry' funny, it is another production you may want to see - and judge for yourself.