Andre Jebbinson, Staff Reporter

Chu Chu (Cleve Warren) - Ian Allen Staff/Photographer

He is no Tyler 'Madea' Perry, but Cleve 'Chu Chu' Warren personifies Jamaica's own loud-mouth stereotype.

Some of his roles have required him to dress in drag, like his coming-out role as a higgler in Passa Passa and his current undertaking in playing the lead, Sissy B, in Crazy Landlord. His roles are usually funny, but it is not hard to imagine that some spectators are not laughing. He has felt the brunt of negative homophobic remarks.

"Ninety per cent of the people like it, but a Jamaica dis and when a man put on a frock some ago wonder. Some a dem start accept me inna it," Warren said.

"Some wonder a wah duh da bboy deh and when they see me in public they expect this boy wid his hang out."

Acting ability

Warren came to Kingston in the latter part of the '90s and enrolled in Edna Manley School of Drama. This was after he discovered his acting ability at the Bona Fide Cultural Youth Club in St. Thomas where he is from. While at Edna Manley he had a tutor whom many might know, Charles Hyatt.

"He (Hyatt) thought I was a stone but he found out I was just a rough diamond. I like to take things off paper and bring it to reality and mek it work," Warren said.

That first opportunity is always important and Warren remembers the first time he got that chance. He was cast in Ralph Holness' roots play Dead Lef Legacy. The language and sexually-suggestive situations included in his low-budget shows are sometimes prickly, but in touch with reality. For Warren, acting is natural and his daily encounters with the common man make his job a lot easier.

"Acting is a gift from God for me. People also have to realise that this is a role for me. If you call mi Cleve when I am on stage, mi naah answa yuh. Im nuh deh deh. When wi done now, I am back to normal again," he said.

Warren's most current role as a crazy landlord is just finding its way with the Jamaican people. In order to make his roles more natural, he often observes the situation or the person he is trying to mimic.

He is now enjoying a 'comfortable life' as a full-time actor. Not bad for a kid from St. Thomas who came to Kingston with hopes of being a good actor. He is certainly becoming a recognisable face in theatre.