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While the exact figure remains a mystery, the ‘King of Jamaican Comedy’, Oliver Samuels, says he has done well over 70 plays – with his newly announced production Lucky Money being the latest added to the list. Despite this plethora of experience under his belt, however, Samuels says the real stars are the writers who are almost like “prophets” in the creative space.
“A lot of the plays that remain relevant today, I think, were way ahead of their times. So, plays like Schools Out, Class of ‘73 and others, had not only witty writing, but spoke to a host of issues that, as it would appear, have prevailed till now,” Samuels told The Gleaner. “This of course would mean the writers themselves were prophets,” he said laughing.
The veteran actor went on to explain that writers oftentimes are so in tune with what is happening in and around the society, they don’t know even realise their creative pieces have been affected.
“It’s almost like a mirror … but the irony of it is that some writers and are not even aware how truthful their work can be in relation to our daily existence. Sometimes they write things that are imaginary, but it just so happens to be about what is happening or even before it actually happens,” Samuels added.
Some evidence of this can be seen in Samuels’ recently announced play, Lucky Money, which follows the story of Walter Nelson (played by Tesfa Edwards), a political activist who receives a visit from Anton Desouza (played by Samuels) who turns up to collect $200m in keeping with an agreement they made when he supplied Walter with winning lottery numbers.
“There is a lot of talk nowadays about monies in the country – some lose, and some seem to gain by ill will and that’s what the play is about somewhat,” Oliver said laughing.
This latest production is the brainchild of another veteran in the creative space and a longtime collaborator with Samuels, Pablo Hoilett, who explained Lucky Money came through researching for something new for the local market.
“I am always looking out for funny, interesting and relevant work to bring to the Jamaican stage and audience. I wanted to find something that was suitable for Oliver who has a wide, yet conservative audience. And so, it was important to find good themes that would mesh well for these specific audiences,” Hoilett shared with The Gleaner.
Hoilett, like Samuels, has been in the creative industry for sometime. So much so, that he’s never done “anything else”.
“I love to create … I am fascinated by the idea of creating nothing out of something – to create something meaningful and put it out there in reality that people can appreciate, relate to, understand, find fun and lessons in and everything else,” Hoilett added.
He says this love is what has kept him in the industry for all these years. For Samuels, however, it’s a different kind of love that keeps him going.
“I think what keeps me going is not only my love for the theatre, but also my love for the people. I love performing for my people, making them laugh and seeing their reactions to the things I have done. And I really look forward to seeing how they will be reacting to this new production,” Samuels said.
Lucky Money opens at the Little Theatre in St Andrew on New Year’s Day.
English (US) ·