Smile Orange, the play that took Jamaica by storm some 38 years ago, is back for a limited run.

This hilarious comedy opened in Jamaica in 1971 and three years later played to packed houses at the Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn, then in London and later in Africa in Swahili. It later became a very popular movie. Those who saw the play or the movie will remember the unforgettable performance of the main character, Ringo, played by Carl Bradshaw.

The play, which centres around a local hotel and its staff, sees Ringo constantly hiding from the wrath of the hotel's assistant manager and the pursuit of a slightly deranged female stalker.

Garbage bin

Playwright Trevor Rhone - at the time a lanky six-footer with a mop of black hair - recalls how he searched for a garbage bin large enough to hold a fairly tall male, who had to get in and out of it with speed. This proved futile and he had to have one made specially by a tinsmith in downtown Kingston. The garbage bin became the most popular prop on stage.

Today, Rhone - minus his mop of black hair but still lanky - reflects in one of his anecdotal tales, "The play opened to a small house, way below my break-even point. The second and third nights were way, way, way below break-even. I was in debt up to my neck with no money for the advertising, to pay the actors, the rent, for food. I was at the edge of a precipice, facing financial ruin, debtor's jail, yet within me there was a feeling of exhilaration. I loved the play. It was refreshingly different, funny. I had written it in search of my identity and I found it - I was satisfied. Sadly (he thought) the play must close tomorrow. I looked forward to seeing the show one more time.

"The following day I optimistically delivered 20 tickets to the box office. Half an hour later, the box office called needing more tickets. What happened to the 20 I bought? - Sold off! People waiting. I delivered another 20 only to get another call for more tickets and some for tomorrow and the following night. We sold out that night,

the following night and the night after that," Rhone said.

"Smile Orange changed my life completely. Success followed success. My life headed upwards and outwards after that for years to come."

Smile Orange opens on June 4 at the Little, Little Theatre for a limited run.

Now, almost 40 years later, a new generation can enjoy the antics of Ringo which are still relevant today.