'Puppy Love' has a sharp bite!

Puppy Love is Jambiz International's latest contribution to the theatre scene and is now playing at the Centre Stage Theatre in New Kingston. The play is written by Patrick Brown and directed by Trevor Nairne, and while it manages to be funny, it is definitely a drama.

Puppy Love uses a simple set and simple cast, both of which are easy on the eyes. The Set consists of a middle-class living room. The cast is made up of four people: Charles Hyatt, who alternates with Glen Campbell, plays Dick, the major character; Munair Zacca plays Harry Cross, who moves from being Dick's best friend and supporter to the position of Dick's enemy. The cast is then rounded off by Marguerite Newland, who plays Dick's wife, Denise, and Donisha Prendergast, who plays Karen Cross, Harry's daughter and the inspirer of the 'puppy love'.

The plot appears simple at the outset. Dick is being seduced by Karen, who is only 18 years old and also the daughter of his best friend of many years, Harry. Additionally, Dick is celebrating his 13th year of marriage to Denise. Thus, this 'love' between himself and Karen has several repercussions. Additionally, it helps to bring issues of class and discussions of friendship to the fore. The issue of marriage is also focused on.

Dick and Denise (the alliteration may be forgiven because they are never used together in the production) seem to have a perfectly normal 30-year marriage. Both are so busy with their lives that if the awake time they spend together were to be totaled, they have technically been married only 4½ years. Even so, neither of them seems to be really interested in the other's life. They don't communicate (unless it is to criticize) and rarely have sex (every third Tuesday to be exact).

The plot clearly revolves around Dick, who is the most clearly drawn character. Additionally, Dick is the most interesting character in the production and keeps the audience quite interested with his facial expressions, but especially with his very sharp wit. For most of the play, Denise, Karen and Harry seem really only to function when their activities relate to Dick's dilemma. The play manages to discuss these issues without being tedious. It, however, skates on pretty thin ice in one area of the plot. As part of her attempts to get Dick to concede to being her lover, Karen tells him that if she can't have him, she will kill herself, which he believes and finally succumbs. While this comes across as somewhat soap opera-like, the wit with which Dick teats the situation makes it tolerable. Despite this, the majority of the play triumphs in large part because of the very strong cast it employs. With the exception of Prendergast seems to be a part of what seems to be becoming a Jambiz tradition of each year injecting Jamaican theatre with much needed fresh blood.

While its major topic is romance, at least of a sort, the play is no romantic comedy, as the requisite fairy tale ending is missing. As such it ends with an interesting twist, which the audience can see coming miles away but hits Dick with such a force that it retains its full impact.