Playwright Everton Dawkins has four plays running simultaneously
Published:Wednesday | September 18, 2024 | 12:08 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
Playwright, producer and director Everton Dawkins has given Jamaica some of the most memorable plays over the last few decades, such as Passa Passa, More Passa Passa and Crazy Landlord, among several others. Now he finds himself in an enviable position by having four plays running simultaneously: Man Fi Get Bun, Careless Mother, The Watchman, and Single Parents.
Man Fi Get Bun was first staged in 1997 and was a big hit in Jamaica. In February 2023, a promoter in England requested the play and Dawkins and his crew revived the production and made a short tour, playing several evenings at various venues, including the renowned Hackney Empire Theatre in London. Back in Jamaica, promoters heard of the play touring England and decided to hop on board, booking it for several shows across the island. And there are bookings for the rest of the year. “So, after 27 years we start running Man Fi Get Bun again,” Dawkins said.
Prior to that, Dawkins had kept on producing new material. He wrote, produced and directed the inspirational comedy Single Parents, followed by the educational comedy The Watchman, and the sensational comedy Careless Mother. “ Careless Mother has been running in schools, we started [in] about 2017. We had dates to perform in 2020, but the pandemic hit and we had to cancel a lot of shows.” Switching gears during the pandemic, his next production was virtual. “During the pandemic we streamed The Watchman, which I wrote just for that, then after the pandemic we decided to do it live,” shared Dawkins.
‘Give the people what they want’
“The latest one now is Careless Mother. The first performances were August 6 and 11, so far we’ve only done two performances. So, in all we have four shows running at the same time,” he added. And there are no plans to change that any time soon. “As they say, you must give the people what they want. So once a school ask for a particular show, we’re going to give it to them. If a promoter ask for whichever one, we’re going to give it to them. We have some Caribbean countries now asking for three different shows. After 27 years, Man Fi Get Bun is playing again and will be in Buff Bay in December.”
This feat might not have been possible if it wasn’t for one man, Maxwell Grant. Grant, known by his stage names Mr Bashment, or Bashy, first worked with Dawkins in Man Fi Get Bun in 1997 and has remained for over a quarter-century, except when he left to work with another company for a while in 2007 to do the Bashment Granny series.
Today, he’s the common face in all four plays. Juliet Shank, also called Dell and Miss Clemmy, is in three: Man Fi Get Bun, Careless Mother and Single Parents.
Apart from Man Fi Get Bun, which is a bit suggestive because of the name, all of Dawkins’ productions are clean, and according to him, “Our shows are productions that we even stage in church, as we play to church groups and anywhere young people are, because we try to cater to them because they need guidance. And how [the] society going right now, Single Parents is really a masterpiece as [it] regard to young people, same thing with The Watchman.”
As a testament to this, last year the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education Fund sponsored several performances of Single Parents across several schools in Jamaica.
Big names
Apart from Maxwell and Shank, Dawkins has worked with several big names in Jamaican theatre, including the late Steve Warren (Chu Chu) and Stede Flash (Jookie Jam). In fact, he has been instrumental in helping to popularise some of these characters.
Dawkins says Passa Passa has been the biggest play produced in Jamaica but to him, his best play is running right now.
“If you asked me which is the best play I’ve done, I’ll tell you Single Parents, in terms of message and all of that, although Passa Passa is the biggest play, not to just us, but the biggest play to come out of Jamaica, period.”
The original six-man Passa Passa cast included Warren (Chu Chu), Shank (Miss Clemmy), Grant (Mr Bashment), Flash (Jookie Jam), Suzette Barrett, and Rosanna Hinds.