Heritage Theatre restaging ‘The Candidate’ with current political themes

Heritage Theatre’s first production for 2013 will open to the public on Saturday, March 9, 2013 with “The Candidate”, a full-length political comedy production, written and directed by Christopher DeRiggs.

There will be a special performance of “The Candidate” at the Marryshow Folk Theatre on Sunday, March 3, and then it will open to the general public from Saturday, March 9 through Sunday, April 14. Performances at the Deluxe Cinema, Grenville and MacDonald College, Sauteurs will follow during the month of May.

The play was written and staged in 2000, against the backdrop of the General Elections held in Grenada in 1999. The play has been rewritten to reflect current political themes.

The scenario involves a retired school principal, Clayton Bird, who is still very robust and restless. His diminished income and the fact that he is saddled with an everlasting mortgage forces him to reconsider his options. He decides to go into the consultancy business and values his expertise highly, considering the teams of unqualified ‘nincompoops’ who are masquerading as experts and advisers.

Unfortunately, Bird’s expertise does not prove to be a highly marketable product and his consultancy does not become a roaring success. Bird’s wife, Mary Bird, does not share his enthusiasm for his career shift and counsels him to pursue more humble engagements, like giving evening classes. Bird considers his retirement as a kind of rite of passage, a graduation to higher things and rejects the notion of going back to teaching in any form.

Bird’s life takes a dramatic turn when political leader, Dr. Cruickshank, who is searching for a candidate for the Southern Constituency, spots him. The spotless integrity of the retired school principal makes him suitable for the job, but he must first overcome his disdain for politics.

The dilemma faced by Clayton Bird in his new and uncharacteristic role expresses itself in a series of comic incidents as elections draw nearer and Bird confronts the realities of ‘rum and corn-beef’ politics. He lands himself in conflict with the super pragmatic Dr. Cruickshank, but more disturbingly, tension invades his domestic situation and Mary threatens to walk out of their long-standing marriage. In the end, Clayton Bird has to make a very serious choice.

The cast includes Wayne Bubb and Lisa Grappy James, who will pay leading roles, ably supported by Robert Whyte, DeLeon Walters, Susan Jones Benjamin, Smith Roberts and Sherwin Sylvester. (LS)