By Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter
Karen Harriott and Paul Campbell gave brilliant performances in the premiere of 'Redemption'. - Carlington Wilmot /Freelance Photographer
TO PUT IT simply, Redemption is an excellent production. Actually, the word excellent seems a tad inadequate to describe some aspects.
The production had its world premiere at the Hilton Kingston Grande Independence Hotel last Friday, Valentine's Day. After making single performances in Mandeville and Montego Bay it opens today at the Pantry Playhouse, where it will have a limited run before going on a tour of the United States.
Written by David Heron and directed by Douglas Prout, Redemption uses the acting skills of Paul Campbell (Robert), Karen Harriott (Linda), David Heron (Scott) and Fahrenheit (Mario).
Redemption deals with infidelity. Taking place for the most part in flashbacks, it focuses on Robert's reactions when he suspects that his wife of eight years (Linda) is no longer faithful. To confirm his suspicions, he hires a private detective (Scott). Although there are laughs to be had in the production, it is clearly not a comedy.
The idea that Jamaican audiences are not interested in drama and therefore the genre is not financially viable has been bandied around consistently. It has been used as an excuse for the production of more and more comedies. By giving the cast, especially Campbell and Harriott, a standing ovation, the large audience at the Hilton Grande Independence Ballroom last Friday went a long way towards debunking this theory.
Redemption succeeds largely because of its cast and director. This is in large part because Heron chose to remain quite conservative with the script. Although one cannot complain about the dialogue, it is somewhat disappointing that he chose not to explore the relevance of religion to the infidelity issue, especially because even though religion is dismissed, it must be relevant. Additionally, bringing religion into the equation would also have helped to create a more original work.
In much the same way, the plot takes no risks in the story revealed. The motivations and decisions are all somewhat clichéd and any slightly informed audience can tell what is to come. This is particularly true since both romances (between Robert and Linda and later Linda and Mario) build.
Even so, the story is well told. The use of constant flashbacks allowed the story to be developed in layers, which helped its complexity. This would have been greatly aided by a symbolic set rather than the attempt at the more realistic looking one which was used. The limitations of the set were possibly also compounded by the venue. As such, it will be interesting to see what it looks like at the Pantry.
The nature of the story also dictated a skilful director. Douglas Prout seems to have quite lived up to the task. There are moments in the production which relied on more than acting talent. These were well handled and served to help move the production well out of the reach of mediocrity.
Interestingly, though at its beginning Redemption appeared to be turning into much ado about very little, what resulted was a truly thrilling experience, the kind not to be had every day on any stage.
The production had to overcome both a late start and technical difficulties. By 8:15 on Friday evening, the Hilton Ballroom was almost packed. However, by then the audience grew restive as the show was scheduled to start at 8:00.
Two other factors were working against the production. The first was the sound equipment. At the beginning, the voices wavered between sounding hollow to not being loud enough. The latter caused persons to bellow "Volume!" rather irately from time to time. The second factor was the location. Although the Hilton Ballroom is rather spacious, it is not the best venue for a theatrical production.
Additionally, as the stage was not raised high enough, every time the cast sat down (and on occasion even when they were standing) a good portion of the audience was reduced to playing an intense game of head 'dandy shandy' in order to see.
This was not helped by the fact that though the play began with its climax, it was not very gripping. Taken out of context, the performance bordered on the melodramatic, which nudged the audience to focus on the humour in the situation rather than the drama.
In an earlier interview with The Gleaner, Heron pointed out that choosing the right cast for your production is half the work. In casting Redemption and then hiring Douglas Prout, he certainly outdid himself.
Karen Harriott and Paul Campbell were the stars of the production in every possible shade of meaning of the word 'star'. It was not so much that either Heron or Fahrenheit were particularly weak; it is simply that Campbell and Harriott were that many leagues ahead of them.
Skilfully avoiding melodrama, Harriott and Campbell squeezed the nuances from every line until they begged for mercy. Their facial expressions and body language completely captured the wide range of emotions they were going through. By the time the play reached its climax (the second time around), the audience stopped their heckling and simply let the drama wash over them.
A flashback sequence to Robert's childhood (with Harriott playing his mother) was the highlight of the performance. Both actors transformed with such authenticity that it was easy to forget their other roles. It was particularly intriguing to see Campbell adopt the guise of a young boy without reducing the audience to laughter.
The two were, in a word, enthralling!
