'Old Story Time'
Beryl Clarke, Contributor

I owe you an apology for only now returning to Old Story Time after I had promised to continue our work on it in the following week. This was because, as you know, I turned to poetry which has to be done at regular intervals if we are to finish the 20 poems on the syllabus.

Our play is fast paced; moving rapidly from our meeting with the major characters - Pa Ben, Len and then Miss Aggie - through Len's schooling in Jamaica and abroad, his marriage, return to his homeland, Miss Aggie's reaction to her daughter-in-law, the situation involving George and the final bonding of the family. The language, the Jamaican dialect, is rich and natural, 'grounding' the play in its setting. You would have noticed that here it is the language of the simple folk.

At this point I would like for us to work on some of the things which make drama different from the other literary genres. You know already that when the playwright is writing he is visualising the stage with the pieces of furniture in a particular order, he is seeing and listening to the characters as they talk, interact with each other and as they move about or remain static. So, when you are going through Old Story Time you have to see facial expressions, read body language, interpret gestures and gesticulations and hear changes in voice tones and levels so as to understand their meanings.

Drama has what I call immediacy, in that the action is being watched as it happens. It is not like a film (though a production can be filmed) in which actors get the chance to repeat a scene until it becomes perfect in the eyes of a director. No, the audience gets what is being acted directly and has no time to consider, just time to react. Elements such as dialogue, stage directions, the use of irony, structured divisions, asides and soliloquies, in addition to plot and characters are integrated into drama.

We have to be careful to always bear in mind how important dialogue is in a play. The playwright has to rely on it for several things. It is dialogue that reveals character, describes and makes references to previous, sometimes ongoing action and subsequent developments. You see, the enacting of a play takes about two hours or a bit more, and not only is the space limited but there are some actions that cannot be presented or only with great difficulty and then, perhaps, only with partial success.

Remember that we are talking about the play on a stage and not about a movie. The writer has to find other means of telling the audience what he wishes to. Take for instance the scene in which Miss Aggy catches Len playing with Pearl in the river. We know this not because we see it on the stage but through a stage direction. We know that they were going there to play because of what Pearl says. How do we find out that Miss Aggy has been to the market? Again, this is through the stage direction and the dialogue. Do you see her riding her donkey to market or leading it home with a lame foot? Of course not! The conversation (dialogue) between her and Pa Ben inform us.

Some actions take place off stage but we learn about them through discussions that take place on stage. As Pa Ben and Mama talk, we get the news of Len's travel to Africa and later of his marriage. Trevor Rhone also uses soliloquies to share information with the audience. Pa Ben 'brings us up to speed' when he tells us how Mama hates black, that not even a chicken of that colour she would keep in her yard. More important, it is then that we hear that Len has a black girlfriend. Members of the audience at this point are given information that a major character, Miss Aggy, does not have and this could create expectations among those watching the performance. Can you think of one such expectation? Ye-s! A confrontation between Miss Aggy and Lois is a distinct possibility, given Miss Aggy's attitude to anything black!

Then there is the soliloquy in which Pa Ben has to cajole (here is a chance to learn a new word, if it is not already one with which you are familiar) Pearl into not revealing the true state of affairs between Len and his mother. In addition, we get the then popular attitude towards Africa; that it was dark, that is, savage, uncivilised and that cannibalism was a real danger to a visitor like Len. I am sure that you have noticed the humour when Pa Ben said that while Miss Aggy turned her face away, he looked at the photo of women who were uncovered above the waist.

This is as a good a place as any to take a break today. Your job now is to look closely at the elements used by Rhone to create this play. We will continue next week. Until then continue to strive for success and God bless!

Beryl Clarke is an independent contributor. Send questions and comments to kerry-ann.hepburn@gleanerjm.com