Ashe's 'Full Circle' is extra large

Michael Reckord, Gleaner Writer

A great sculptor is reputed to have stated he found it simple to create his beautiful marble statues. He simply chipped away the excess marble around the form he visualised.

The creators of Ashe's concert, Full Circle, which was mounted at the Little Theatre over the weekend should consider further chipping.

At just under three hours, the show is in the 'extra large' category, longer than the average theatre production and certainly too long for presentation in schools.

Why the mention of schools? Because the first half of Full Circle is a musical, Safe, Stupid or What, about the dangers of indulging in unprotected sex, which is aimed at young people. It is a sequel of sorts to Ashe's ground-breaking show, Vibes in a World of Sexuality, also promoting safe sex, first produced 17 years ago,.

Vibes was taken to numerous schools in the island and, apparently, Ashe's intention is to do the same with the current production. The company's directors, Conroy B. Wilson and Michael Holgate, state: "Once again, we have realised that something needs to be done for this generation of young people to address HIV/AIDS. All the messages are there for young people, but they're not getting it, and we've asked ourselves why."

Of course, they are right that drama is a good tool for giving information and teaching positive values, and imperfect though the show may be at the moment, Safe Stupid or What has a lot going for it.

The main components of this "total theatre" show were created by some highly talented people.

Sex-related confessions

They include Holgate and Wilson (story and directing), Jillian Samms (dramaturgy), Paul Newman and Benton Morris (assistants to Holgate with choreography), other members of the cast (who assisted Holgate and Wilson with the writing of the script and the songs), and Arlene Richards and Kayon Green (costumes).

A good place for the directors and dramaturg to begin their paring down would be with the story's frame. The story itself comprises the sex-related confessions or testimonies of a number of teenagers.

There are lessons to be learnt from their experiences, which we hear about as we watch a staged Reality TV show. The frame is the events of that show's production.

On Saturday night, the TV show's socially concerned host, April, was played by Sharee McDonald Russell while Jillian Samms played the show's obnoxious ratings-obsessed producer, Mrs Flannigan. About half of the time is spent on the squabbling between the two women and the setting up of the TV show.

April is passionate about getting her safe-sex message across to her audience, but Mrs Flannigan wants sensational sex confessions so that the show's ratings will be high. Both actresses play their larger-than-life parts well.

In fact, generally, the performances - acting, dancing and singing - are good. Some performers, however, have problems with diction. The street talk sometimes becomes so genuine, meaning 'broad', it is difficult for those not accustomed to it to understand what is being said. (This was the case with an entire row of young visitors to the island). Those actors and actresses need to be reminded that the purpose of their dialogue is to communicate with the audience, not to show how proficient they are with the inner-city vernacular.

If the main subject of the musical were the behind-the-scenes activities of Reality TV, we in the audience could accept the many fusses between the host and producer, but what really grips us - as they should - are the stories of the teens. One girl tells how, because of poverty, she has to depend on an unfaithful "sugar daddy" who eventually gives her a venereal disease.

Taunts

Another girl has an abusive boyfriend, whom she is afraid to leave or report to the police. One young man is set up by his friends for a casual-sex encounter, but he, wanting only meaningful sex, rebuffs the girl and provokes the taunts of his friends. Another youth with an effeminate walk is teased for being gay, though in fact he is not. As the stories are told, the audience is invited to give feedback as to whether the teens are having safe or unsafe sex.

The musical works best when it is most uncluttered, both in terms of the storyline and the blocking. Far too often, the full company is onstage, dashing around in circles or from side to side. It should be confined to the big production numbers, like the excellent finale with everyone singing the theme song.

Part two of the show is a variety concert comprising dance, drama, song and speech items. They gave the members of the company further chances to show their performance skills, this time in a more focused way. In Hair Piece, staged by Rishille Bellamy-Pelice, for example, Taunia Flowers, Camilla Plunkett, and Shanique Thomas played a woman having a hilarious discussion with her two wigs about a date she's going on.

Shayne Powell, who was seen earlier as the effeminate young man, played a more masculine part in a comic dialect poem about a man with an injured foot complaining about his "wicked and unconscionable" girlfriend. The final item, De Gong Show, featured powerful drumming and exuberant dancing by the full company.

Ashe is blessed with an abundance of talent. The directors need to discover how to parcel it out effectively.