Raul Davis blazing a trail with ‘Sounds From Yaad’

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Content creator Raul ‘Blaze’ Davis is quite a character. In fact, he is many characters. An actor, playwright, and social media influencer, Davis successfully carved out his space in the digital realm, fashioning relatable characters who reflect the Jamaican experience in a humorous way.

But Davis, who has 150,000 followers on TikTok, has not confined himself to social media. In 2019, he stepped out with a one-man show, the Laugh and Pop Up tour, which saw him performing live for audiences in New York, Fort Lauderdale, and Kingston. The year 2024 sees him making another major move in the live space. He is an integral part of a production titled Sounds From Yaad, which will have two shows on December 29 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

“Raul’s presence in Sounds From Yaad highlights the transformative power of the arts and the importance of telling authentic Jamaican stories, making him a standout talent in the production,” the production team says of Davis.

He is the writer of Sounds From Yaad and also acts in the revue, and this venture marks the first time he is collaborating with professional actors in such a space. Transitioning from the social media space into the actual theatre has been a “learning experience” for Davis, and he is proud to ‘Blaze’ a trail by being among the first online creators to make this convergence.

“I’m still transitioning … not like that,” the comedian said with a laugh as he added clarity.

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“Even when I am by myself, I get shy. I have about 20 takes before the final thing. [But] when it comes to live theatre, there’s no editing … if you do make a mistake you have to play along because the audience should not know. But luckily for me, I have a great cast. I have Sherando Ferril, who has been in the business for a while, I have the legend Owen ‘Blakka’ Ellis. I have Kadeem Ellis, who was in Sprinter and other films, Everaldo Creary who has recently played Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry in the Bob Marley biopic, and Joan Kenzie, a talented actress who has her own production. They are all excellent coaches, so let’s see how I do on the 29th of December,” Davis said.

Reflecting on the genesis of Sounds From Yaad, he said that as a social media content creator, he did some skits in 2016, and his dream was to bring these short sketches that had become popular on social media to the theatre.

“It took me a couple of years. I reached out to different people. One was Sherando Ferril, who is our producer now, and she reached out to Owen ‘Blakka’ Ellis. They thought it was a wonderful product … a wonderful revue ... and they said we would work together,” Davis shared.

Davis is beside himself with joy at seeing his characters come to life in this way.

“It’s a big joke on the production that I cannot remember my lines and I wrote the play. Sometimes I become this passenger in a car that I kinda built. It’s just amazing to see what I thought in my head and what I played for years how the actors with their experiences are interpreting these characters,” he stated.

As a big believer in traditional Jamaican comedy – the folklore and mysticism, Miss Lou and Oliver and Ranny Williams – Davis is hoping that Sounds From Yaad will help people to be inspired and realise that Jamaican theatre – culture and humour - “is very much alive and they should invest in it at the corporate level where nuff nuff money should be thrown into it”.

With the convergence of traditional theatre and social media now a reality, Davis has great expectations and noted that having the trust of respected theatre people has been a great confidence boost.

“When Owen ‘Blakka’ Ellis seh ‘Raul, this is di ting’ ... then this is di ting. Moving over is combining both worlds, but I do believe that this is where the future is in Jamaican theatre,” he said

Davis, who now resides overseas, has taught foreign languages at the secondary level in Jamaica and is also a published author. His 2022 collection titled Fimi Patwa: 10 Pwaem, 10 Proverb and 1 Touri, was released to critical acclaim. One of the pieces, Ms Joyce Mongrel Dawg, was chosen to be featured in the Ms Lou 100 Voices publication honouring Louise Bennett-Coverley.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com

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