Easy like Sunday mornings after....

I've been to two shows in the last two weeks, both potentially excellent, both significantly flawed. Last week I saw Miss Miles at the Little Carib - a strong play about an extraordinary woman. The thing, though, is that the play went on waaay too long. For the last half hour, most of the audience were growing restless, their minds leading them to one overwhelming question - when, dear Lord, would the performance end? Tony Hall's portrayal of Gene Miles was rendered with sensitivity and a commendable dramatic range by Cecilia Salazar, but Miss Salazar simply couldn't keep the play alive, once she died. Its death and hers pretty well coincided.

I have read all the superlatives about Miss Miles in the daily newspapers. The one superlative I never heard was 'the LOOONGEST' - and yet, it was the one quality of the play that framed most other comments after the performance ended. It started at 6.00 and ended after 9.00 I think. And it lost all dramatic tension immediately after Miss Miles died at about 8.30. As Miss Miles reminds us, Gene Miles was a Roman Catholic. After her death, for the audience as well as for the dead woman, the rest indeed was Purgatory.

And then again last night, I went to the Extemporama show put on at SWWTU. The show, which is organised by Contender, has become something of a tradition by older calypso lovers. As usual last night, the old Masters of extempo performed well. Gypsy - good. Lady Africa, Shortpants....And Relator gave a truly masterful performance of old calypsoes. BUT, again, a show that was to have started at 5 p.m. never began till nearly 5.45, and ended after 9 p.m. There were clear dips in the performance, and even when I was enjoying it, I was very conscious that the performers were mostly - how can I say this tactfully? They were OLD. The audience was made up of older people. And if we don't do something about it soon, in spite of all the Carnival competitions, in aittle while extempo will quite likely be  a thing of the past.

Now here's the thing that troubles me in all of this - WHO are the reviewers who will tell the less pleasant truths about local productions that are significantly flawed? These days, a misguided spirit of loyalty seems to have most reviewers bending over to be kind and positive about them. But this is not what our local entertainment industry needs to grow. Producers and performers alike need to hear the unpleasant truths sometimes. Somebody needs to go beyond support for local productions that is limited to bland recaps of their content and a polite 'good try.' I want to hear somebody say, sometimes, look, people, potentially excellent stuff here was seriously undermined by self-indulgence. Keep it crisp! I want to hear somebody tell last night's anthem singer - look, child, let me tell you what your best friends mightn't say - yuh kill de people anthem!

Just as happeend with Miss Miles, the audience said all of this and more in the car park last night, and as they were driving home. AND the audience said, which was also true, that both performances had real high points. We come out to support the arts in Trinidad - we're already there for you. But you owe us more consistent quality, rather than predominantly good intentions.

And to this end, where are the brave reviewers who are not afraid to provide a little constructive criticism, instead of damning the future of entertainment in Trinidad and Tobago with fulsome praise? Honest reviews, this is your cue: Enter stage left!