By Deardra Shuler   From THE BLACK WORLD TODAY   Monday, 21 May 2007

Errol John, the playwright who wrote “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl” understood the complexities of human nature.  Although the setting of the play takes place in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in the 1940s, it could have just as well been any era and anywhere in the world.  Life plays out in many accents and several shades of existence.  And, although time passes making improvements in its wake, some things never change. Poverty for some may be a grade higher than for others, but the problems that go along with poverty demand a toll, a price higher than some can pay.  Poverty wrenches the soul, tearing away at ones alabaster character. It demands human sacrifice while constantly testing the human spirit challenging it to rise above its circumstance.

 John’s moon casts its pale light into the darkness of the human experience touching upon the raw emotions that demonstrate both frailty and strength.  His play captures this so well by laying bare the longing that lies just below the surface in us all.   The desire to rise above one’s condition is demonstrated aptly via the character of Ephraim which is skillfully portrayed by Erwin E.A. Thomas.  Ephraim wrestles with his conscience throughout the play.  He is neither bad nor good.  He is merely human.  Having reviewed his past, Ephraim prefers to look forward unfettered and unattached.  He recognizes life is a crap shoot so focuses his intent on rolling snake eyes.  Not leaving anything to chance, Ephraim seduces lady luck determined to win her smile. 

 He has a plan, a long term secret plan that drives him toward his goal.  A goal he is willing to cast love aside for in order to assure a brighter future.  Name the price -- he’ll pay it, even if it costs him his integrity.  The local girl he is seeing, Rosa (Carla Brothers), has simpler dreams: marriage, and motherhood.  She innocently accepts the cards that fate deals out to her, never seeing outside the box.  After all, society fashioned Rosa’s box so long ago that it’s become a second skin. Other options never even occur to her.  She languishes there in innocent revelry until life offers up a bitter cup of brine.  Abandoned, unprepared, and blindsided, Rosa prostitutes her values to protect her growing child.  Via this play, the face looking into the mirror catches a glimmer of its opposite side. 

 Closeted within their ramshackle domains on the seedy side of town, the characters struggle to cut away the remnants of their despair. Charlie (Lincoln Brown) regales the tales of is long lost youth, a time when he had the opportunity to carve out a successful niche for himself.  He knows his wife Sophia sees him as a failure but he is content to bask in the love of his daughter Esther whom he cherishes more than his life.  In his old age he is left with the ruined memories of his wasted potential.  He rolls the dice again and comes up the loser twice, once in youth, and now as an old man. In taking the chance he reached for the brass ring but it yielded him nothing, despite his lofty purpose.  One cannot help but reflect on the unfairness of life when sympathizing with Charlie whose only desire was to aid his brilliant teenage daughter, portrayed by young Najah Johnson.

At what price comes freedom? For Charlie it was the chance to sacrifice him self for love, and for him that was not too high a price to pay.

 “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl,” does not judge its multifaceted characters it merely observes them. Errol John allows the characters in his play to judge themselves. In fact, Lola Loui’s character, Sophia, looms larger than life throughout the play.  Central to the play, Lola, charges through life making judgments about everyone around her.  No one escapes Sophia’s critical tongue and watchful eye, especially her floozy neighbor played to perfection by Kim Weston-Moran, who adds needed humor to the play.  A good mother, Sophia’s judgments occasionally makes her blind to the needs of her own family.  Trapped by poverty and bitter disappointment in Charlie, Sophia hides behind an air of indignation that really masks her fear.  She lashes out at Mavis for being duplicitous with her boyfriend; yet in many ways, Mavis is the only character true to herself.  Yet even Mavis secretly longs for approval and legitimacy which she hopes she will obtain via a engagement ring from her boyfriend (David Heron) whose playful antics add sparkle to the production.  

 “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl” digs deep beneath the surface stripping away each layer until it gets to bare bone.  It does not seek its happy ending. It works with the colors of life as they really are.  It says with careful stitching life seeks out its own delicate balance.