Woman Tongue opens April 28

'Woman Tongue' opens April 28

Scarlette Beharie Productions has pulled together a cache of sensational actresses for the upcoming anthology play, Woman Tongue. It is the first time Barbara McCalla, Karen Harriott, Carol Lawes, Hilary Nicholson and Bertina MaCaulay will share a stage.

Woman Tongue will be stage at the Courtleigh Auditorium, New Kingston, on Thursday, April 28, 2016 for a limited six-show run. The play closes on Sunday, May 1, 2016.

The debut play collection of writer, publisher and arts critic, Tanya Batson-Savage, Woman Tongue is a mix of drama with doses of the comedic, and even a touch of the tragic. The anthology play is a montage of seven short pieces that shine a spotlight on older women engaging in conversations often thought taboo.

"I am particularly excited to be producing such fascinating play that pulls together some diverse and thoroughly entertaining, often irreverent stories which, under the expert directorial hand of Eugene Williams and this stellar cast, are going to take the audience on a thoroughly enjoyable emotional ride," said Beharie.

Told through the lenses of women at different stages of their lives, the play explores how they navigate the complexity and simplicity of life as they grow older. It addresses questions of love, sex, sexuality, evolving family dynamics, changing mores and values, life, and death.

Tickets are $1,500 regular and $2,000 for the gala event on Friday, April 29, 2016. The show plays at 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday and 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Dis Poem returns

to CASE April 24

On Sunday, April 24, dub poet and agro consultant Ras Takura will present the sixth staging of Dis Poem Wordz & Agro Festival 2016 in Portland.

The dub poetry/Seed fi Seeds Exchange event will be held at the Student Pavilion at the College of Agriculture Science & Education (CASE), the official return to the campus where it began.

There will be an agricultural expo, which will facilitate the official Seed fi Seeds Exchange, designed to mobilise natural organic heirloom seeds across Jamaica and the world. It is a call for organic farmers, savers and breeders of third-generation heirloom seeds, to take their non-GMO seeds to the event and participate in the exchange. It will also to create a natural market space for the agro industry and for the people of Portland to market their produce to patrons.

The sixth Dis Poem Wordz & Agro Festival honours foundering father of Jamaican dub poetry, Oku Onuora. Performances will be delivered by Owen 'Blakka' Ellis, Meeka Nyoka, Steppa, Mutabaruka, DYCR, RasTakura, Randy McLaren, Italee, Abbebe Payne, Richie Innocent, Ras Atiba (Brooklyn-based Jamaican), Weedamiah, Racquel Jones and Haji Mike (from Cyprus).

The festival has been endorsed by the Jamaica Tourist Board and IRIE FM.

Ras Tafari exhibition opens today

The Ras Tafari: The Majesty and the Movement exhibition will kick-off the H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I 50th Anniversary Celebrations.

April 2016 is the 50th anniversary of the state visit of H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I to Jamaica. This event is of enormous significance to Rastafari and the Jamaican people in general.

A range of celebrations has been organised by H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I 50th Anniversary Commemoration Committee, with a focus on the visit of his grandson, H.R.H. Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie. His Royal Highness will be retracing the historic journey of his grandfather.

As part of the celebrations, the travelling exhibition Ras Tafari: The Majesty and the Movement will be opened in the Montego Bay Cultural Centre today, with an official ceremony at 6:30 p.m. It is being put in by the National Museum Jamaica, a division of the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ), in collaboration with the Ras Tafari: The Majesty and The Movement Committee and the Montego Bay Cultural Centre,

On Sunday, April 24, there will be a special commemorative event being organised by the H.I.M. 50 Committee on the cobblestones of the Montego Bay Community College, starting at 3 p.m., at which His Royal Highness is expected.

Anne-Marie Bonner, executive director at the IOJ, said, "I can remember, as a young girl, the excitement and emotion over the visit of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie. It was a historic day for Rastafarians and all Jamaicans as we welcomed this spiritual and internationalist leader."

The full exhibition was mounted at the Ethiopia National Museum, Addis Ababa in 2015. The travelling version was first displayed in Bath, England from where it arrives to Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Simply Myrna goes to Florida

On the heels of the successful annual Simply Myrna event held recently at Devon House in Kingston, the show will be taking its brand to Miramar, Florida, on Sunday, April 17.

Simply Myrna is is being staged by AFUWI in association with Riddims Marketing Inc, under the distinguished patronage of Miramar's mayor, Wayne Messam, at the Miramar Cultural Centre, beginning at 7 p.m.

Performing will be Myrna Hague, A.J. Brown, Ian Sweetness and Eugene Gray.

Sponsors for the show are Georgia D. Robinson, The Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS), Western Union, Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill, National Weekly Newspaper, Pat Montague Marketing & Promotions and the UWI Alumni Association, Florida Chapter.

Tickets are premium US$60, orchestra US$40 and balcony US$30, available online at www.miramarculturalcentre.org, by phone up to Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., or the Miramar Culture Centre's box office.

Peter Lloyd revels in 'Pure Love'

Peter Lloyd's new single, Pure Love, is making an impact on Soundcloud. After a month, the track has hit the number two position on Soundcloud's Most Played Track of the Week chart in the reggae genre worldwide.

Pure Love, written and co-produced by Peter Lloyd, has already hit 1.35 million plays on Soundcloud. Co-production credits go to Conrad Glaze,

"It's heartening that it's making a global audience happy. This song means so much to me personally," said Lloyd.