Review of Chadd Cumberbatch's Play "Every Wowlah House"

Still reflecting on the theatre experience of last evening. Director of Culture Chadd Cumberbatch did an excellent job of capturing key human experiences of the Montserrat Volcanic Eruption in his play "Every wowla house has its own trouble".

Using an African proverb denoting dynamics of house and home he arrested our attention, forcing us to reflect deeply on the dilemma of leaving or staying in yards where our navel string were buried; leaving Montserrat for the UK, USA, Wider Caribbean etc. our staying in Montserrat. Then we were transported back twenty years to other profound decision making that we were engaged in as the Volcano spewed ash-What could we take as opposed to what should we take; Separation from friends and family as, deciding how to live with it.

Chadd's play highlighted gender, age and class differences in coping and deciding what to do in the midst of such upheaval. I liked the mixed media-photographs of Plymouth, buildings and people used alongside news and emergency clips that he used to evoke memories and the dance and music that he inserted to calm us as we undertook that traumatic journey.

Thank you Chadd for a job well done. Thanks too to your excellent cast of children. What better way to pass on Montserrat's heritage of dealing with and rising from disaster. The play ended with suit cases stacked readily in a corner.

I hope that 20 years on, that many are reflecting on returning to the rock whether for visits or to stay because as Chadd illustrated last night the evergreen tree spirit still lives.