By Neil Armstrong
As coincidence would have it, “Get That Hope,” a play set in Little Jamaica a couple of household on the brink of have fun Jamaica’s independence could have its opening night time on the Stratford Pageant on August 10, the identical day that the Jamaican Canadian Affiliation in Toronto will host its signature 62nd Jamaica independence and anniversary gala.
The forged and artistic crew are trying ahead to its world première on the pageant. Written by Andrea Scott, it’s directed by André Sills and options Savion Roach as Simeon Whyte, son; Celia Aloma as Rachel Whyte, daughter; Conrad Coates as Richard Whyte, father; and Kim Roberts as Margaret Whyte, mom; with Jennifer Villaverde as Millicent Flores. Scott, Aloma, Coates, and Roberts are of Jamaican heritage.
Scott, an award-winning playwright and screenwriter, who just lately returned to Canada after residing in West Hollywood, California, and dealing for Disney, is worked up about her play being introduced on the pageant. The play is predicated on the lifetime of her household, however she has fictionalized some elements as nicely.
Richard Whyte is set to have fun Jamaican Independence Day in model. The rice is soaking, the ginger beer is cooling however his squabbling household has different concepts. Over the course of a single sweltering day in Toronto’s Little Jamaica, a lifetime of buried secrets and techniques and desires will floor, forcing a re-examination of true independence, notes an outline of the play.
In 2018, Scott noticed American playwright Eugene O’Neill’s “Lengthy Day’s Journey Into Night time” about in the future within the lifetime of a dysfunctional household who’re tough to be round however can’t be away from one another.
“I used to be watching the play and thought we don’t have something like this in Canada. We don’t have a play about Black households who usually are not simply jokes and making everyone chuckle. We wish to see every little thing that goes on of their life however see that they nonetheless love each other even when they drive one another loopy.”
This led the playwright to think about her circle of relatives. Though vowing to by no means write about herself or her household as a result of they’re boring, that quickly modified when she tried to clarify to people who she has two brothers—one in every of whom is her father’s son however not her mom’s who got here from Jamaica to dwell together with her household when she was 4 years outdated.
Folks would ask what it was like for her brother. Initially, she assumed that every little thing was positive, however upon additional consideration realized that her mom had an issue with having to lift any person else’s youngster and never having a alternative within the matter.
Her brother instructed her that he by no means felt like he was part of the household — one thing that she solely discovered as an grownup.
Within the play, she mixed her brother feeling like an outsider and herself continuously having to be distinctive and being taken without any consideration.
Conrad Coates who performs Richard Whyte, the daddy, is channeling her personal father, she mentioned, and at occasions sounds identical to him.
After a 27-year absence from Stratford, the prolific actor in theatre, movie and tv, and director, because the patriarch of the household, contends with points found by the family and the viewers on the similar time.
Having carried out in Shakespeare performs at Stratford, “Get That Hope” appealed to him as a result of he could be performing in a Jamaican play and talking patois. “I’ve by no means skilled that earlier than in my profession,” mentioned Coates who lastly had one thing that he might relate extra to culturally.
Scott thinks each Caribbean one who attends the play will determine themselves with the characters.
Kim Roberts makes her Stratford debut because the household’s matriarch who, like most West Indian girls, has rather a lot to say about many issues.
Having lived in Little Jamaica for 25 years, “a neighbourhood with a lot historical past, tradition and vibes,” and the place folks dwell for a few years, she mentioned the script appealed to her.
With a prolonged profession encompassing over 200 stage, movie, tv and voice credit, Roberts, the daughter of a Jamaican father, mentioned she is embodying all her Jamaican family members in her voice, accent, mannerism and mind-set to characterize Margaret Whyte.
When Scott’s mom moved to Canada, she lived within the Eglinton and Oakwood space, generally known as Little Jamaica,” together with her aunt as a result of her mom was a home employee residing with a Canadian household. Her mom attended Oakwood Collegiate.
“Get That Hope” runs from July 21 to September 28 on the Studio Theatre. “It is a play about household in all its complexities,” mentioned Sills. “Households are advanced issues filled with historical past, filled with secrets and techniques, filled with trauma, and also you’re caught with them. The play asks: Can you actually share the darkness in your life together with your dad and mom or members of the family?”
