Jeremy (left), Louis and their wives peer through the window in astonishment as the people revolt against the authorities in a scene from 'We Can't Pay, We Won't Pay'. - Contributed

The production We Can't Pay, We Won't Pay, playing at the Dennis Scott Theatre at the Jamaica School of Drama, Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, deviates from the path of popular productions in set, story, performance and directing.

The Ron Steger-designed set emanated depravity in Dario Fo's avant-garde play. The walls of the studio looked old and worn and the old stove placed beside two industrial gas bottles not only looked out of place but seemed a potential recipe for disaster.

The only item which seemed to show any form of resistance to this environment of decadence was a large wooden closet/wardrobe placed up stage centre.

Its purpose, revealed by Angie (played by Shelly Ann Sibblies), was to provide sanctuary for her husband Jeremy (Shayne Powell) when the pressures of life got to him. In fact, he reads a copy of a William Shakespeare play to while away his frustration.

But that is only part of the very action-packed and comedic story.

The play begins at the home of Jeremy and Angie. Angie, who enters with several grocery bags, relates to her best friend Maggie (Rushell Simmons) how she joined a group of women who created a riot at a supermarket, and then left with a number of grocery items.

Hide the items

To prevent her pious husband, Jeremy, from finding out what she had done, as well as to avoid being arrested by the police who are searching the neighbourhood for stolen goods, Angie convinces Maggie to hide the remaining grocery items (that she could not put under her bed) underneath her blouse.

This action not only creates a faux nine-month pregnancy for Maggie, but the need for both women to explain to Jeremy why he did not know that the wife of his best friend and co-worker Louis (Cavin Carty) was pregnant.

Thus Angie's mastery at spinning tales to Jeremy, the police sergeant, stage trooper (all played by Dewayne Stewart) provided many twists and turns in the story.

But Fo's use of the characters, Angie and then Jeremy and Louis, as spin masters, is to make a more important point: that man has the ability to create avenues of escape from any situation, even the present economic downturn.

And as director Pierre Lemaire noted in the programme, "[The play's] theme is relevant in these times of international financial crisis."

Unorthodox DIRECTING

To achieve this, Fo used a language that was humorous in structure. The play is best described as hybrid comedy, depicting elements of farce, satire and theatre of the absurd. The plot, linear in structure, flows easily but ends with an implosion, the climax turning in on itself.

Lemaire's directing was unorthodox. His skill in miming was on full display. A large chunk of the story is told through reporting by the characters. To divert attention from the very wordy production, Lemaire used mime to reinforce the spoken language.

Generally, his placement and movement of the actors generated a lively picture. But Lemaire erred, somewhat, in not paying attention to the student actors' tendency to mask each other, especially in the downstage left area.

But the cast gave a creditable performance. There was some fine acting by the young cast of Powell, Carty, Simmons, Sibblies and Stewart, who executed the characters with alacrity.

However, the outstanding performance came from Stewart, who played his four roles with consistency.

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