The Music Diaries | Miss Lou, queen of Jamaican theatre

Two Fridays ago we observed the 99th birth anniversary of Louise Bennett-Coverley - folklorist, actress, vocalist, comedienne, author, poet and one of Jamaica's most cherished national treasures. She became famous for her dialect verses done in Jamaican Creole that depicted various facets of Jamaican life.

Some of her more common compositions include, Jamaica Language, Caribbean Rhythms, Buggy Bruk, Street Cries, Colonization In Reverse, Foreign Thing, Chi-Chi Bud, Evening Time, This Long Time Gal, Dutty Tough and Under The Coconut Tree, while she has authored collections that include Nancy Stories and Dialect Verses, Anancy and Miss Lou, Verses In Jamaican Dialect and Jamaican Labrish.

There were, however, some of her lesser-known and scarcer works that surfaced under a banner called Miss Lou Views in the 1960s. They were high in satirical content, and perhaps brought out the best in the queen of Jamaican theatre. In one of those dramatic releases, Miss Lou poked fun at the authorities' ineptitude to properly harness Jamaica's water supply, while thousands of gallons of the precious commodity runs unhindered into the sea, a situation that persists to this very day.

She was spot on as she recited:

"Is wha happen to the dam them what we got inna Jamaica eeh sah? Is wha we gwine do with dem de dam de? A mean to sey, fun is fun and joke is joke, and drought is drought, when rain don't fall at all.

"My Auntie Roachie nearly get pus tisik last week after all the rain-fallings, road-floodings and river-comedownings to hear newspaper sey 'The water in the dam has not risen or improved', cooyah!!, them dam deh a defamate rain character, a give rain bad name, and gwan to the public like rain a keep malice with them.

"Them dam de mussi have a leak. Yeah, and that must be the reason why Jamaica haffi undergo so much drought suffering, for rain mussi get vex and decide that since dam wont admit sey that rain a fall inna them, then rain na go fall at all, and you can't blame rain fi that."

Bennett's road to success wasn't a smooth one at the outset. She encountered stern opposition from her parents, who believed that loose talk and anything other than the Queen's English was a sign of low-breeding. But in the family's home in Spanish Town, where Bennett grew up, she was determined to prove them wrong. Possessing an inborn propensity to write dialect verses, she continuously jotted down short verses in her ever-present dog-eared notebook on interesting activities that were happening around her.

Coming to Kingston in the late 1920s, Louise Bennett attended Calabar Elementary School, St Simon's College and Excelsior High School, where she consistently won prizes for English compositions. Her alma mater was like the catalyst that propelled her into the limelight. Two important things happened there. She began to convert the notes from her dog-eared notebook into rhymed commentaries, and she was spotted by talent scout Eric Coverley as she performed at her prize-giving concert in 1939.

Christmas concert

Impressed with her performance, Coverley invited her to perform at the annual Christmas concert at the Ward Theatre. Her performance won the hearts of many, including her parents who had previously denounced her dialect leanings. It was the beginning of her theatrical career, which took her into areas of the Pantomime and radio shows, foremost among them being The Lou And Ranny Show. She received several awards for her work, chief among them being the Order of Merit (2001), Jamaica's third-highest honour, which is conferred on persons who have achieved eminent international distinction in their field.

Her achievements would never have been possible without Eric Coverley, who got her into the show business, and thereafter stood by her through thick and thin. The lead-up to their marriage was related by Coverley in dramatic fashion.

"We used to get a lot of invitations and people would always say, 'bring Louise Bennett'. That time, we weren't that close. And she would get invitations to parties and they would say, 'bring that boy, Coverley', and that got us together. So I had to escort her every time, whether it was a dinner or show, back home. And I would deliver her at her door and run back to catch the same subway. And then another night, I took her home and I said, 'look Louise, I can't stop a minute to talk with you. It seems like I will just have to marry you'." Louise response was curt: "Coverley, is that the way you propose?! That could never be a proposal."

That makeshift proposal, however, became a reality and they tied the knot in 1954.