Ferril celebrates ‘convergence’ in ‘Sounds From Yaad’

Wherever theatre people converge, the atmosphere is usually quite festive, and that was definitely the case at the launch of Sounds From Yaad, a celebration of Jamaican and Caribbean culture and live theatre, powered by the creative force that is actress and producer, Sherando Ferril.

Not surprisingly, before the curtains came down on Monday’s launch, it was agreed, after watching snippets from the play, that “dis loud bad” as the tagline from Sounds From Yaad shouts.

But, underlying all the laughter, singing, and dancing provided by the cast – which includes Ferril, Raul ‘Blaze’ Davis, Everaldo Creary, Kadeem ‘Kenzic’ Wilson and Joan McKenzie – was a sober conversation centred on ‘convergence’, which seemed to have been the word of the day. Keynote speaker, comedian, Christopher ‘Johnny’ Daley, sought to put things in perspective.

His examination of the dynamics of the social media space, which is inhabited by influencers whose meteoric rise to stardom can happen in minutes, as opposed to the real theatre space occupied by professional actors who spend years honing their craft and hundreds of thousands on production costs, was quite interesting.

Daley said that one of the legitimate concerns was the pairing of “inexperienced social media personalities, popular as they may be, alongside well-trained actors who have spent years working at it”.

“How do we manage it? How do we make it work? As creatives, we are taught to always make it work. So, maybe the solution is to ensure rigorous casting for influencers. Genuine talent must be chosen to work alongside trained actors who work hard. Because yuh really can’t put unequally yoked people together,” he said to applause.

Ferril, the CEO of YAADBridge Entertainment, expounded further during a one-on-one with The Sunday Gleaner.

“It’s a convergence, and that has been the conversation the entire night … and it’s not just a convergence of social media stars, influencers and traditional theatre film practitioners, but from the perspective of the production company, YAADBridge Entertainment, which has a mandate to tell Caribbean stories to global audiences,” Ferril shared.

Aligning with the theme of convergence is the fact that the play was actually written by popular social media influencer, Raul Blaze, who lives in the diaspora, and who stated that working alongside professionals was a great learning experience for him.

During the Q&A segment, Owen ‘Blakka’ Ellis, who confessed to being somewhat of a snob, shared that attempts were made to involve another social media person in the production, but that didn’t quite work out as “him neva know seh a so it hard fi do a play”.

NOSTALGIA

Ferril emphasised that Sounds From Yaad is not just a theatrical experience, it is a nostalgic experience.

“It’s an experience that will take us, whether we are in Jamaica or in the diaspora, back to that time of ‘Bwoy, Jamaica did nice eeh’ Or if yuh live a foreign, ‘Hey, mi miss dem summ’n deh from yaad yuh kno’’, And that is what makes Sounds From Yaad different,” Ferril stated.

She is “elated” at the coming to life of Sounds From Yaad, which started with a conversation between her and Raul Blaze, who told her that he had turned some of the characters whom he depicted online into a play.

“And he said, ‘Bwoy Sherando, it a guh be di strangest thing fi see somebody else play these characters’. There is one in particular called Jackie from Upper Echelonia, so she is very upper Sin’ Andrew, and I get the pleasure of playing Jackie. And I have to switch the accent all the way up to upper Sin’ Andrew. Raul is now giving us the opportunity of bringing these characters to life. It’s very exciting and I am happy with this. And I am happy with the cast that we have pulled together to mek this into a real ting ... and to carry it go a foreign is a big deal.”

A seasoned thespian, Ferril has been involved in theatre for more than 30 years. She started ‘back in the days’ with Ginger Knight and has toured as an actress with his company, as well as with JamBiz and Louis Marriott. But now that she is also a producer, things are different.

“Then, I literally only had to show up, learn my lines and deliver. But now the pressure is on. From beginning to end, I have to ensure that things are in place … the actor dem get sort out, the location, mek sure everybody is fed … the touring opportunities, negotiating all those contracts, and on top of that I am performing in the play as well. So, it’s balancing the business side of it with the creative of it, which is one of the things I embrace as the CEO of YAADBridge Entertainment. Yes, I’m happy with it … it’s exciting, it’s a lot of work, and I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.”

Sounds From Yaad will have two shows at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel on Sunday, December 29. Early next year, the show will hit the road for six months, with plans to go to North America, Europe and even Japan.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com