Is it a musical or is it a play with songs? It’s a moot point and one worth considering because this bright and enjoyable show falls between two stools. In 1984, the late Mustapha Matura exported JM Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World from rural County Mayo to a similarly sleepy Trinidad in Playboy of the West Indies. Now, composers Clement Ishmael and Dominique Le Gendre, co-directing with Nicolas Kent, have given Matura’s version a calypso overhaul, complete with a band in the pit.
There is lots to love about it. Leading a tremendous cast, Durone Stokes is all politeness and charm as Ken, the blow-in to small town Mayaro, whose murderous tale – he claims to have bumped off his father – thrills the local people for its audacity. Stokes is relaxed and centred, making it easy to see why men and women alike should fall for him. He is cautious rather than boastful, lending credence to his story.
