A spirited performance by Ghostwriter actors
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from June 2002.
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With the absence of oversized paychecks and even more inflated egos, what is left is a troupe of people who genuinely love what they are doing. Lacking fancy props and costumes, these thespians wield the most powerful acting tool they act with joy.
Such was the feeling at a recent performance of Ghostwriter, the latest production by Cayman Drama Society. The play's cast of six projected their larger-than-life characters with endearing eagerness and energy.
Written by David Traistam and directed by Penny Phillips, Ghostwriter tells the story of a washed up playwright, Edward (played by Martin Tedd), wallowing in the loss of his high-handed actress-wife, Ruby, played by Susan Howe. Ruby supposedly committed suicide a year prior with a "lethal cocktail of pills and booze".
With the help of his gleefully gay best friend Alex, played by Malcolm Ellis and a new sweetie Glenda, played by Jenifer Ahearn, Edward is trying to get his life together when Ruby's spirit materializes and states she did not kill herself but was murdered. By commanding Edward to write a re-enactment of the night she died, and casting the suspects of her murder, Ruby hopes to discover her slayer. What ensues is a harried and hilarious series of mishaps that will have even the most stoic theatre-goer tittering in their seat.
As a body, the characters performed well and had a chemistry, which made for good comic timing. This is demonstrated especially in the scenes between Mr. Tedd and Mr. Ellis. However, Susan Howe captured the diva in Ruby so elegantly that in many scenes she stole the show. In a rich and well-projected voice, Ms Howe alternatively barked, sang, and hollered her lines with an engaging alacrity. In the best of her scenes with Martin Tedd, the two capture the emotion of the reluctantly-in-love Beatrice and Benedict of Much Ado About Nothing. Ms Howe struck an infallible balance between bitterness and vulnerability.
Another highlight was the performance of Gabrielle Wheaton, as Ruby's arch-rival and possible murderess Frances. The venomous one-liners that Frances nonchalantly dropped drew some of the heartiest laughs from the crowd, an honour she shared with the drunken Hedley, played by Tony Rowlands.
The uproarious plot twists alone make Ghostwriter a worthy weekend treat, but with the added bonus of a stellar cast too good to be called amateurs, it's one of this summer's must-sees.
