SAMUEL Selvon’s timeless “A Brighter Sun” has been converted into a compelling dramatic play that could assist in healing in these times of national discord.
The play has ended a weekend run to packed houses and huge acclaim from cosmopolitan audiences.
Victor Edwards directed the theatrical production with a script for which Pearl Eintou Springer is credited as the main author, and with masterful performances by each cast member.
The play was staged on the weekend of what would have been Selvon’s 100th birthday and captured the working-class ethnic unity the author portrayed in 1952.
Selvon, who was born and spent his early years in San Fernando, set his novel in Barataria, where grassroots Afro and Indo-Trinis lived, worked – and drank rum – in harmony and fellowship.
The narrative is from the years of the second world war, when construction of the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway altered lives for common folks, including struggling farmers.
Teenaged Tiger and his innocent bride Urmilla moved from the sugar cane fields of Chaguanas, to live alongside Joe, who has the toughness of his George Street upbringing, and his charming wife Rita.
Their honest and simple community exchanges are a throwback to a time before the current edginess of race relations in T&T.
Rita helps to deliver Urmilla’s babies, and they exchange food and goodwill.
Joe and Tiger chat about life experiences and ambitions and drink rum under the moonlight and in Tallboy’s Shop.
But the most captivating performance is by Sahadeo – veteran actor David Sammy – a village sage, agriculturist, and drunk.
In another land, Sammy would have been extolled by the artistic community and media.
There was a matinee performance of “A Brighter Sun” for school children but the play should be seen by many more students and aired on television.
The play also recalls Selvon’s enduring contribution to literature, as one of the first authors to use vernacular, and as capturing the essence of Caribbean culture in such insightful works as “The Lonely Londoners” of 1956.
The production is also a tribute to Edwards, who has served the performing arts faithfully in spite of limited appreciation in a country that strongly favours urban artistes.
The production team deserves appreciation for bringing to life a storyline that is more relevant and urgent than ever.
“A Brighter Sun” is a narrative of our times.
