On Friday 9th October, 2015, Teatro Journee took the Trinidad Theatre Workshop and transformed my view of the emerging local theatre landscape.
This 45 minute long production did what art was supposed to do. It made you think and it made you feel.
Set on the roadside, somewhere in Trinidad, Working with P. E. P took the audience through the stories of three female C. E. P. E. P. workers.
The woman who uses men financially, the man in her life quite possibly abuses her daughter; she offers little help to her mother whom she lives with, milks her children’s father for as much maintenance as she can get and sees no problem with her lifestyle. She is the stereotypical ‘doh do nuttin’ C. E. P. E. P. worker.
Then there’s the woman who is working to make ends meet. She has been lied to and used by a man that gave her three children, a man who tricked her into giving him money to send to another woman and who now is married to another.
Lastly, there is the matriarch of the bunch. She is the mother of the ‘badman’. Her husband died, she became depressed. This depression led to her leaving her children to ‘raise themselves’. Her daughter died during childbirth in an early teenage pregnancy. Her son is now a notorious gang member. She was once a spiritual leader but her experiences made her lose her faith. She works the hardest.
These three women embody living stereotypes but this piece forces the audience to see past the stereotype and empathise with the women. The playwright addressed the disdain and neglect that society has for these workers while the director and actresses brought the emotions to life. The piece opened your consciousness and made you question your own treatment and thoughts toward these workers in society.
Overall a thoroughly entertaining piece. Good acting and effective use of lighting and props. I give it an 8/10, definitely worth the time.
The Trinidad and Tobago Performing Arts Network 