Double Dose Of Columbus

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS will find himself tag-teamed on Boxing Day, Friday, December 26. Long stripped of the title of 'discoverer' of Jamaica, Christopher Columbus is more than ripe for a good joke; this time around he will get two.

Combolo,being staged by the Little Theatre Movement (LTM) Company, and Christopher Cum-Buck-Us, to be staged by The Jambiz International Productions, share a treatment of the story of Christopher Columbus.

MERELY A COINCIDENCE

While Jambiz declares that it is merely a coincidence, Barbara Gloudon of the LTM refrained from commenting on that aspect. "I'm not clear what is going on in Jamaican theatre," she said.

Gloudon said that she is not clear as to whether both productions sharing the Christopher Columbus story in one year will have any impact on either work. She noted that the LTM sign announcing Combolo has been up since summer and that the production is already well into its rehearsal.

Christopher Cum-Buck-Us, on the other hand, is just going into rehearsal. Lenford Salmon, one of Jambiz's directors, noted the productions are generally only rehearsed for six weeks. Salmon is confident that the similarity will not have a negative impact on the productions. "We think that people will want to see both productions," he said.

Other than a relation to Columbus and that both productions use drama and music, the plays seem to have very different takes on the story.

Patrick Brown, writer of Christopher Cum-Buck-Us, explains that the show is an extension of a sketch originally a part of the review Yard '90. According to Brown, the play will take a look at "the bumbling nature of discovery". He explained: "It's a tongue in cheek look at the whole business of discovery, the fact that he (Columbus) discovered other people."

This version of the story will also bring together a bit of politics and even Osama Bin Laden gets thrown in there. Brown explains that the moral of the story is, "no matter how things bad, it coulda worse".

Christopher Cum-Buck-US comes on the heels of the phenomenally successful Cindy-Relisha and the DJ Prince, which was also written by Brown. The writer, who has been rather prolific for several years, noted that the play's success has brought pressure to make this work even better.

Even so, he is confident that the production will be able to meet expectations. The cast should easily boost this confidence. Volier Johnson plays Christopher Cum-Buck-Us, Oliver Samuels takes on the role of Chief Running Belly and Glen Campbell doubles up once more, playing Bush Doctor Sham and Brave Grinning Goat. Claudette Pious plays Squaw Rolling Calf and Dahlia Harris is Squaw Smiling Rabbit. Teisha Duncan will alternate with both Harris and Pious.

Brown noted that Christopher Cum-Buck-Us fits in with the general trend of Jambiz Christmas productions. Brown pointed out that the shows generally work feature stories surrounding either historical personae or popular fairytales.

Christopher Columbus fits both requirements, as he is a popular personage and much of what was originally taught about him was akin to fairytales.

Interestingly, Combolo is related to an earlier pantomime. Writer Barbara Gloudon noted that she had earlier tackled the Columbus story in her second pantomime, Hail Columbus (1972). She explained that Combolo, as he is renamed on arrival, is not Christopher Columbus, but his descendant. Combolo comes to Jamaica to clear his ancestor's name, Gloudon explained.

THREE-TIERED

Gloudon explained that the movie works on three levels, involving three Jamaican "civilisations" - the Arawaks (Tainos), The Spaniards and Jamaicans who are busy selling to the tourists. This "three-tiered" approach, she explained, called for the use of three different settings, music and costuming.

The triple production labour will be taken on by Michael Lorde (set), Anya Gordon-Nelson