“CUTIE AND THE FREAK” in May Pen and Mobay this weekend

Patrick Brown’s comedic fairytale CUTIE AND THE FREAK, which has been thrilling audiences in Kingston at the Centerstage Theatre, plays this weekend in May Pen and Montego Bay.

On Saturday February 17 the action happens at a new venue in May Pen – the Quarry, Bustamante Highway, for an 8pm start. Then on Sunday February 18, the show plays at the Montego Bay Community College, beginning at 7pm.

The cast, led by the inimitable King of Comedy Oliver Samuels and the versatile Glen “Titus” Campbell has been at their scintillating best, pulling out all the stops to deliver a seamless performance every night. The appreciative audiences have been enthusiastically lapping up every moment of the fun, applauding each and every high point in the production.

Loosely based on the ageless fairytale “Beauty and the Beast” – regarded by many as “the most beautiful story ever told”, Patrick Brown’s story is Jamaican in every sense of the word, and is generously spiced with local topicalities.

Gleaner critic Carolyn Johnson described the production as “unconditional love”. According to her actor Glen Campbell was in his element on the night she saw the play. Commenting on Campbell’s performance she wrote that “… as the main role Ben he is the life of the play and never fails to keep the audience laughing. In his other roles as Ezekel and Killer, possible suitors for Cutie, Campbell’s talent is shown as he easily switches from role to role, mastering each.

Writing in the Observer, Tyrone Reid described CUTIE AND THE FREAK as “A comedic delight”. Describing Samuels’ performance as the overly protective father, Reid said that “Samuels displays comedic brilliance in the role of Tiny, moreso in scenes where he tries to convince his daughter to stop seeing Frank (the Freak) – who he describes as “King Kong cousin’ and tells Frank that “fi yuh ugliness famous”.

After the opening salvo in May Pen and Montego Bay, the rural tour continues to the end of March, winding its way through several other rural-urban centres including Sav-la-mar, Ocho Rios, Mandeville, Brown’s Town, Linstead, Malvern, Old Harbour and Morant Bay. 

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