Dirty Diana "A Reflective look at love"

Those fans of Patrick Brown who might have felt he was straying too far downtown or that the lines between his plays and the roots comedies were becoming too blurred recently, will be reassured by his latest production, Dirty Diana.

Some will welcome the fact that he retains the laughs, but has moved back up above Half- Way Tree with hard issues like money, drugs and an ideal love affair replacing the fantasies of Breadfruit Kingdom or the naughty street kids of Oliver's Posse with serious, middle-class issues.

Others will certainly be heartened by the fact that he is, simply, again at his fervent best. The cast of the new play, which opened on Emancipation Day at the Centrestage Theatre in New Kingston, also has an international flavour.

Dexter Hammett is an America hunk, obviously courted into doing the production because of his appeal to the womenfolk and Nadia Khan is a Trinidadian living and working in Jamaica, who might have been the role of a deaf\mute to protect her accent. Hammett plays the cocaine-sniffing spendthrift, Babyface, while Khan is e deaf\mute erotic dancer Cher. Denise Hunt, who was seen in How Stella Gets Her Groove Back, has also been recruited to play two different roles: Diana as well as the deaf\mute dancer. Fortunately for the avid Brown\Jambiz Productions fan, Glen Campbell and Charles Hyatt are still around. Incidentally, the public is being reminded that the production will only have a limited run, because o the "overseas" actors involved. So you are being warned to see it as early as possible.

The plot is not an original one although the way it has been handled by Brown gives it an interesting new twist.

Some years ago there were a couple of films asking the questions: Would you allow your wife to sleep with someone else for a fee? And, if the answer to the previous question is, yes, then how much?

Dirty Diana, basically, asks the same questions.

Both Diana (Sherando Ferril from CVM's morning show) and her deaf\mute friend, Cher (Khan) survive by performing what we normally call go- go dancing, but which in contemporary terminology has been upgraded to exotic dancing. They work at a club Owned by Pops ( Hyatt), frequented by Babyface and his bodyguard.

Babyface, a recording executive, is a cocaine addict who normally gets what he wants until he set his eyes on Diana.

Diana's jealous boyfriend, Doggie (Campbell), is the main obstacles. The jobless Doggie is so obsessed with her; he feels threatened by any and everyone. Especially the sly, well-proportioned and rich Babyface.

After accompanying Diana to Babyface's house party, Doggie, who is having problems paying his bills, especially his rent, gets envious of Babyface's wealth and from then on a series of events starts unfolding, culminating in Doggie watches, seems like the only solution. It is obviously Brown 's most reflective work in a while and the laughter sometimes gives way to a tear or two, marking the end of a long period of commercial and roots indulgence on Brown's part. It certainly justifies his rating as our most versatile playwright and leaves us wondering, what next?