"Lady of Parham" Play by Renowned Playwright David Edgecombe Comes to Montserrat

Edgecombe’s most recent play will be staged at the Montserrat Cultural Centre as part of activities for the 6th Alliouagana Festival of the Word which begins on November 13 to the 16.

Although the story line is informed by a tale about the Antiguan mystery of the ghost of Parham Village, ‘Lady of Parham’ does not dwell on the ghostly aspect but instead the overarching themes and messages are “about life’s goals and hunger for goals, love, greed, love of money and question of friendship which have all been woven into the play so that the story is not just an Antiguan story but in fact a universal story,” explained Edgecombe.

‘Lady of Parham’ is described by the Director as an actors’ play because of its minimalist production style and set design which compels the characters to use the necessary performing arts techniques to tell the story. “With very limited props, pretty much an empty stage and very limited costumes, the burden of setting up the scenery and characterisation falls to the five actors...so it gives the actors a chance to explore some of the styles and techniques used as far back as in the Greek and Shakespearean theatre,” said Edgecombe.

Labeled as a drama piece with a bit of comedy, the two hour production is expected to leave the audience in “awe primarily with the actors, because they are so good at what they’re doing,” stated the Director.

He explained that the audience is expected to go through a range of emotions “serious moments to moments of laughter” and “the play invites the audience to suspend disbelief a lot”.

Admission to Montserrat’s staging of ‘Lady of Parham’ is EC$30 for adults and EC$15 for children under 15 years old.

‘Lady of Parham’ premiered in April 2014 at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands). It was later staged in Dominica and a number of other Caribbean islands have since expressed an interest in the play.

David Edgecombe is currently a Theatre and Public Speaking Lecturer at the University of the Virgin Islands. He has been in the performing arts industry for over 40 years and is one of the founders of the Montserrat Theatre Group.

Some of his work includes ‘For Better For Worse’, ‘Making It’, ‘Coming Home to Roost’ and ‘Heaven’, among others.

For more information on ‘Lady or Parham’ contact David Edgecombe at edgecombe@me.comor main organiser of the Alliougana Festival of the Word, Head of the UWI Open Campus, Gracelyn Cassell at montserrat@open.uwi.edu