Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

Audiences sang and laughed along with the action in Rawle Gibbons’ calypso musical, Ah Wanna Fall, at the Newtown Playboys Pan Theatre on Tragarete Road. The musical will run on October 12 and 13 and October 19 and 20.

Ah Wanna Fall, part of a three-part Calypso Trilogy, focuses on the life of calypsonians in the post-war 1940’s, specifically The Mighty Spoiler and his contemporaries, The Young Brigade. Director Eugene Williams said the musical is based on the lyrical genius of Spoiler, his reputation as a humourist, and his thematic and lyrical bending of conscious logical blending. “Of the two actual calypsonians represented, Spoiler is the traveller in the imaginary, while Lord Kitchener is the pragmatic traveller, lyrical stylist and storyteller. The play locates the calypsos of Spoiler and The Young Brigade within a fast-moving imaginary tale fashioned out of the myriad tensions represented in the songs and the social dynamics of the era. The drama is driven primarily by Spoiler’s domestic encounters with his wife Imelda and his and his fellow calypsonians’ struggles for economic survival. They are treated as a group of strolling players in search of supportive audiences as well as accommodating and lucrative spaces to ply their trade.”

Producer and playwright Rawle Gibbons said the observation of Calypso History Month is a commitment which Canboulay Productions undertakes in celebration of T&T’s creative heritage and the value it holds for our youth. “We’re doing this production to find Spoiler’s music, show what has been done in this place, and place value on the music. Our performance of memory is in defiance of a culture of what may be called ‘conscious amnesia’ that denies value and cuts off the lifeline to anything we may have achieved or are able to learn from the past.”

The cast is comprised of a mix of experienced and new actors, musicians and singers, including Kearn Samuel, Roderick “Chucky” Gordon, Lalonde Ochoa, Omare Asson, Syntyche Bishop, David Bereaux, Denzil Williams, Tishanna Williams, Helen Williams Batson, Chantal Baptiste, Daniel Kistow-Davis, Josanne Nurse, Christoper Best, Patrick Bertrand, and Shirleene Zola Grandsoult. The band, which is integral to the production, is composed of Assistant Musical Director Marva Newton on guitar, Alisford Phillips on bass, Patrick Johnson on keyboards, Wayne Nimblette on alto saxophone, Recardo Persad on trumpet and Timon Valentine on drums.

The play references the changing relationships between various classes, nationalities and occupations, including the Portuguese, Chinese, East Indians, Grenadians, taxi drivers, tourists, police, the judiciary, prostitutes, steel band men, and bartenders. It uses the music of the time, including well-known pieces such as Bedbug, Ol’ Lady Walk a Mile, Sugar Bum Bum and others to show how calypsonians used their music to chronicle not only their current situation but their hopes and dreams for the future. The songs range from humourous to sad to romantic.

As is customary with Canboulay Productions, the audience is invited to not only sing along with the songs they know, but also to compete for a prize by singing a song of the period on stage.

Gibbons said the production also launches a campaign to honour Spoiler and in doing so, reclaim ourselves. “We are compiling studies of his work and the lyrics of his songs; we are marking his grave appropriately for public identification; we will award prizes for school children who can render any of his songs at our show. We are also calling for any of his close relatives to contact us, and we are asking all who have personal memories of the man or knowledge of his unrecorded songs to contact us so we can have these recorded and archived.”

Saturday shows begin at 8 pm and Sunday shows begin at 6 pm. Tickets cost $200. For more information call 343-7713 and 355-0966. Tickets can also be purchased at The Blue Edition, Tunapuna and The Book Sauce, Gatacre Street, Woodbrook.