OLIVER SAMUELS STILL TOPS IN RIVER BOTTOM
Top
Caribbean
comedian/actor
Oliver
Samuels
and a
talented
team of
thespians
make
their
annual
South
Florida
appearance
in
Patrick
Brown’s
award-winning
play,
River
Bottom.
The play
comes to
the
North
Miami
Beach
Julius
Littman
Performing
Arts
Theater
on
Saturday,
July 5
at
8:00
p.m. and
Coral
Springs
Center
for the
Arts on
Sunday,
July 6
at 7:00
p.m.
River
Bottom
recently
received
six
Actor
Boy
Awards
including,
Best
Comedy,
Best Set
Design,
Best
Production
and Best
Special
Effects.
Oliver
Samuels
won Best
Actor in
a lead
role
while
Glen
Campbell
received
Best
Actor in
a
supporting
role.
River
Bottom
has been
rated as
one of
Patrick
Brown's
best
work to
date.
In the
play,
Samuels
is his
usual
cantankerous,
trickster
self -
this
time as
Cappo,
the
spiritual
leader,
MP and
storm
whisperer
of River
Bottom,
a
poverty-stricken
Jamaican
district
where
residents
try to
make
life
without
running
water
and
electricity.
Cappo,
with his
power,
influence
and
wealth,
abuses
his
"authority"
as his
uneducated,
gullible
followers
turn to
him for
everything
and hang
on to
his
every
word. He
has his
eyes on
Pearle
(Camille
Davis),
the
community's
young
sweetheart,
whose
mother
Miss
Cherry
(Belinda
Reid) is
a very
progressive-minded
woman
who
wants
only the
best for
her
daughter.
Though
Cappo
(with
his Rav
4
obsession,
two-storey
house
with car
porch
and back
verandah)
reigns
supreme
in the
district,
times
are
a-changing
in River
Bottom,
especially
with the
return
of
Quatty
(Chris
Hutchinson),
a young
man who
returns
to the
district
after
going
abroad
to seek
an
education
-
returning
with a
fresher
take on
life and
ready to
pass on
his
newfound
wisdom
to the
residents
of his
childhood
district.
Happy
too, to
reunite
with his
father,
Half Q
(Glen
Campbell).
Of
course,
Cappo
hates
opposition
and sees
Quatty
as a
threat
to his
leadership.
Worst of
all,
they
both
share
tender
feelings
for
Pearle.
With the
coming
of
Hurricane
Dawn,
residents
have to
decide
whether
they
trust
Cappo's
spiritual
powers
or
Quatty's
more
educated
judgement.
Packed
with
trials
and
conflicts,
a heavy
serving
of
social
commentary,
wit and
humor,
River
Bottom
offers
audiences
laugh-out-loud-funny
entertainment.
While
Samuels
(excellent
comedic
timing)
and
Campbell
(watch
out for
his
Chiney
man
impersonation)
are in
high
form
here, it
is the
younger
cast
members
who
shine
most on
stage.
Davis
and
Hutchinson
show
remarkable
growth
as
actors
and
inhabit
their
characters
well -
displaying
amazing
onstage
rapport,
especially
in
scenes
where
they
play
younger
versions
of
themselves.
Much can
be said,
too,
about
Reid's
performance,
who is
definitely
coming
into her
own as
an
actress
since
her
impressive
turn in
the
gospel
musical
Amen
Corner.
Rounding
out the
cast are
Actor
Boy
winner
Courtney
Wilson
as Mass
Viv and
newcomer
Megan
Lewis as
Mums.
River
Bottom
is a
production
of
Jambiz
International
and is
presented
in South
Florida
by
Riddims
Marketing
and
Jamaica
Awareness,
Inc. The
play is
sponsored
by
Jamaica
National
Money
Transfer
and Air
Jamaica.
Tickets
go on
sale at
selected
Caribbean
outlets
early
June.
For
further
information
contact
Riddims
Marketing
at
305-405-1059
or
Jamaica
Awareness
at
305-405-2712.
