By Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter
Above: Simpleman (Christopher Daley) delightedly soaks up the abuse of the Cruff sisters (Dahlia Harris, centre, and Claudette Pious, right). - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
CHRISTOPHER DALEY gives a fabulous performance in Cindy-Relisha and the DJ Prince. The play is a riotous laughter-inducing version of Cinderella. The sixth annual Christmas production, being put out by Jambiz productions, the play is another combination of the talent of Patrick Brown (playwright) and Trevor Nairne (director).
Crowds are packing into the Centerstage Theatre in New Kingston to see the comedy and they do not appear to be disappointed when they leave.
A large part of the reason for this is Daley's performance. The young actor could simply be described as the perfect buffoon. His character, 'Simpleman Simple', has no related character in the original fairytale, but he is a very welcome addition.
The rest of the cast is made up of revised characters from the original tale. As such, Cinderella (Cindy-Relisha, played by Donisha Prendergast) is not living with a stepmother and evil sisters. Instead, she is the hired help with The Cruffs. The Cruffs are a father, Rufus (Winston Bell) and two daughters Drizella (Dahlia Harris) and Punella (Claudette Pious). Although they are not the ugliest women in the world, the two have manners that would shame a pig. Additionally, they cannot seem to stop eating.
The prince of the fairytale is replaced by a deejay named Prince Sheggy (Glen Campbell). Another change also takes place as the fairy godmother now becomes a fairy godfather named Tipsy. Glen Campbell also takes on the role of Tipsy. Harris also plays a double role, taking on the minor part of Addassa, Cindy-Relisha's mother.
Simpleman is a yardboy with the Cruffs. For reasons not even he can understand, Simpleman is in love or at least in lust with the Cruff sisters (though this does not stop him from insulting them about their looks). Simpleman is particularly important, since he helps Prince Sheggy to find the foot to fit into the shoe.
Once again, Daley proves to be an energetic figure which simply demands the audience's attention. Cindy-Relisha is his third Jambiz production, since he also appeared in Oliver's Posse and Oliver and the Genie. His performance in this production suggests that he may well be on his way to becoming one of Jamaica's great comic actors at least, in the realm of slapstick comedy. His performances are the kind which generally have people grabbing their stomachs as they state 'da bwoi deh fool eeh'.
Even so, although Daley claims much of the spotlight, he does not steal all of it. In this production he has to go up against Glen Campbell and Winston 'Bello' Bell, both of whom are experienced and talented actors.
Not surprisingly, most of the laughter (and there is an awful lot of it) is shared among these three. In several of the scenes Campbell and Daley combine talent and easily whip the audience up into a comic frenzy, especially when they engage in audience interaction.
