“RIVER BOTTOM”
Fact Sheet

Cast:                           Oliver Samuels O.D., Glen “Titus” Campbell, Camille Davis, Courtney Wilson, Belinda Reid, Chris Hutchinson, -------------------------------and Megan Lewis.

Playwright:                Patrick Brown

Directors:                  Trevor Nairne & Patrick Brown

World Premier:         Wednesday December 25, 2007 @ 5pm

Playing Dates:          Wednesdays to Fridays @ 8pm
                                   Saturdays and Sundays @ 5pm & 8pm

What is RIVER BOTTOM?

A comedy with music. The play is set in the district of River Bottom – a dirt-poor, isolated “fishering” and farming coastal community located in deep-deep rural Jamaica, where there is no running water and rural electrification has not yet ventured.

The cast is led by Oliver Samuels, who plays “Cappo” – River Bottom’s spiritual leader, faith-healer, prophet, MP, obeahman, storm whisperer … and whatever else works. The people are poor and are in the main illiterate and ignorant of what happens outside the geographical area that is River Bottom. As the only one in the district with financial and other resources, Cappo reigns supreme.

But with all the money in the world Cappo is still unable to get the one thing he has had his eyes on for years – Cherrie’s one daughter Pearle (Camille Davis). His main nemesis is Quatty (Courtney Wilson / Christopher Hutchinson). Cappo “generously” helped Quatty’s father Half-Pint (Glen Campbell) to send Quatty to school overseas. We soon learn that Cappo’s generousness had rather sinister motives.

Quatty finishes school and decides that he has to use his education to enlighten the people of his boyhood community, and to help them to unshackle themselves. But he also has something … or rather someone else on his mind – the “Pearle” of River Bottom. Cappo is clearly not amused by the shenanigans of Quatty, and his own fast fading aura of “Mr. Don-man”. He sets out to do everything to frustrate Quatty’s efforts. But the winds of change are too strong and the people are soon able to see Cappo as the fraud he really had been all along.

Contact : Rosemarie Williams/Lenford Salmon – 929-1280; lenfords@cwjamaica.com