Sakina Deer
Patrick Brown
Camille Davis
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Prolific local playwright Patrick Brown has been blessed with a very special talent - the ability to create side-splitting comedy while simultaneously drawing attention to serious issues - a feat he has achieved in a number of his plays at the Centerstage Theatre, a feat he refers to in Jamaican parlance as "tekking kin teeth and kibba heart bun".
This includes Oliver's Posse, in which he looked at the plight of street children and the dangers they face on a daily basis. In Easy Street, he looked at Jamaicans living in squalor on the edge of the city's dump - where one man's waste was another man's treasure. In Class of '73, he looked at the failings of a creaking education system, and the list goes on and on.
Brown is at it again in his latest offering - the 2013 Jambiz summer production - Ladies Of The Night. The laughter is aplenty again while he gives us a ringside seat to the shenanigans of a motley crew of sex workers in New Kingston and demonstrates how they endanger and are endangered by the wider society.
In typical and vintage Patrick Brown style, the adventure is laced with side-splitting humour, with the funny lines coming at you repeatedly. Only, the situation is one that could make you cry amid that laughter as the dire consequences of irresponsible sexual conduct hit you squarely in the face, forcing you to sit up and ponder.
The cast is led by comic actor par excellence Glen 'Titus' Campbell, who plays Carlos - a smart-talking, always dapperly dressed record producer, blessed with a nose which easily sniffs out the next great hit-maker.
His trusted nose has now led him to an unbelievable talent in one of the most unlikely places. That talent comes with all kinds of complications - some too personal for comfort.
complications
To avoid complications, Carlos prefers to pay for his nocturnal pleasures. No strings attached. That is until he meets Sugar - his preferred lady of the night.
When Sugar crosses the line and starts to attach strings to the arrangement, Carlos finds that running away is not so easy this time. Not when Sugar also possesses the voice of a nightingale and Carlos' hit-making nose is twitching.
This sets up a romantic intrigue of immense proportions, laced with witty one-liners and hilarious exchanges.
The quartet of ladies are Keisha Patterson (Sugar), Sakina Deer (Honey), Sharee McDonald-Russell (Cherry), and Camille Davis (Juicy).
On the surface, they all look like the typical girl next door, but their chosen profession is not one they would write home to tell Mom about.
Completing the cast is Courtney Wilson, Juicy's handcart-pushing boyfriend Scatta - a man with great ambition despite the limited opportunities life has thrown in his direction.
After Ladies of the Night premieres on July 5, the production will embark on a limited run at the Centerstage Theatre in New Kingston, playing Tuesdays to Fridays at 8 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
