Reviews - (Date: July 30, 2004) Daily Gleaner

By Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer

"THE LAST STAND: FALL DOWN FUNNY

PATRICK BROWN and the rest of the Jambiz team have delivered another hilarious gem in the form of their newest comedy, The Last Stand. The play, currently running at The Centerstage Theatre in New Kingston, is a hilarious romp around the minefield of male promiscuity.

Although it is clearly an ensemble piece Deon Silvera and Glen Campbell are miles ahead of the other players, especially in their ability to capture and deliver nuance. Campbell plays serial seducer Charlie Wood, who is about to get his comeuppance at the hands of some of the women he has slept with and never called again.

DEEP TROUBLE

The Last Stand begins when Woody wakes up in one of his trysts', Shanika (Donisha Prendergast), apartment unsure of where he is and why he is there. Woody soon realises that he is in deep trouble simply by Shanika's decor, which is filled with torture paraphernalia. Shanika is later joined by Kiesha (Sharee McDonald-Russell), Bubbles (Deon Silvera) and finally Simone (Christopher Hutchinson).
The three and a half women (Simone plays for both gender teams) are very different. Bubbles is another delightful creation of a malapropism victim. Despite her love for multisyllabic words their meanings often elude her, creating some hilariously side-splitting statements. Deon Silvera gives a masterful performance. Although she might be unable to navigate the English Language without hurting herself, Bubbles is easily the smartest woman in the room and really the most honest. The Last Stand is about as pro-woman as Waiting to Exhale, which means it's not very. It shows women who make stupid decisions about men and in many ways allow the men to take advantage of them. Let's face it the back of a car on a darkened road, even if that car is an SUV, is an unlikely place to encounter love.

Despite having made bad choices the women have a right to their anger, because Woody has been very dishonest in his dealings. Of course, many discarded women have felt their urge to dismember the offending man.

The play spends most of its time discussing the ills of Woody's predatory behaviour. While the women argue what's wrong with him, he throws up his own defence. Additionally, as Brown presents three very different women, the women face their own problems as the differences in their personalities and additional baggage manifest themselves. Though it is not a dramatic comedy, director Trevor Nairne allows the performers to tap into the drama of a few moments, which intensifies the experience and adds depth to the characters.

Indeed, the mixing of drama and comedy is a huge part of the beauty of Campbell's performance. The beauty is that, despite the ludicrous nature of the situation he is in, he plays it very seriously. Campbell is a consummate comedic actor, as it is no small feat to be able to play the ludicrous and the serious with equal ease.

BEST PERFORMANCE

Prendergast delivers the best performance of her career, carrying her weight far better than in her last few plays. Shanika is filled with three emotions anger, bitterness and a lot more anger. Though the character could use more subtlety, it receives a fair enough portrayal. The two relative newcomers, McDonald-Russel and Hutchinson, also give fair representations of their skills.

A comedy at heart, with several hilarious moments to prove it, The Last Stand is a reflection of possibly one of the most fatal problems in Jamaica men who cheat and the women who let them.