Vincentian director to produce weekend Cabaret in New York in May

A US-based Vincentian cultural artist is aiming to elevate Vincentian culture internationally through the staging of a cabaret show titled ‘All ah we is One’.

The show put on by Chatoyer Productions in collaboration with Club St Vincent Inc will be staged on May 6 and 7, 2023 in Brooklyn, New York. Francesca Sam, originally known as Dolores Ashton, is the executive producer and director of the show.

She is a graduate of the Bishop’s College Kingstown and St Vincent and the Grenadines Technical College.

Now, the award-winning actress, poet, playwright, director, and songwriter is seeking to glorify her homeland as she celebrates the boundless scope of Caribbean culture.

Sam spoke to SEARCHLIGHT earlier this month about the inspiration behind the play, and the importance of connectedness whether a person is based in their country of origin or abroad.

“The show is called ‘All Ah We is One.’ One of the reasons is obvious to me, but it is that we are living in a multicultural environment, different nationalities and so forth, and we have our challenges here in the US as immigrants, as a race, and even in class … so we want to remind each other that at the end of the day all of us are one … ‘all ah we is one,’ no matter what … the differences are,” Sam explained.

“ We are one people so this is why that name was chosen for reproduction, and of course to identify it as a Caribbean production; that is our way of speaking, so we said ‘All Ah We Is One.’”

The show will be divided into segments; the first half will feature several pieces including song, dance, instrumentals and poetry, and the latter half will feature a drama in which Sam wrote and directed.

She said that the show is written in a relatable way where it captures “family drama” that immigrants and other families encounter in everyday life, and it covers a range of sub-topics such as sibling rivalry, dementia, mental illness, black lives matter, teenage rebellion among other elements.

Sam drew an example of what the play intends to feature, a scene where the grandmother is struggling with dementia, and spends most of her time listening to radio stations in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

“So her daughter, who is the one that made it, says ‘Oh, she always kept up with Vincentian politics,’ and then the other sister says, ‘everything for she is comrade comrade,’ and then we kind of reference that ‘one man ah run the country for 20 years.’ It’s said in a way that it brings attention to … say, well this is our Prime Minister for that amount of time.”

She said that she tried her best to ‘play up’ things or ‘play it down’ so that certain subjects are highlighted without drawing any conclusions.

“… So we did that … to bring attention to our homeland, St Vincent is mentioned in the play. Things that people go through in terms of leaving kids behind with other people, that also is mentioned … whether you’re abused … things like that, or you feel abandoned, because we have that element to leaving our children behind, that’s when you bring them here, they feel as if the 10 years that they were left with other people, even if they were well taken care of, they feel abandoned. We have a mental health aspect to the play too where one of the characters was left behind so now she can’t make it because she’s too tied to the homeland.”

Sam said that she is pleased with the work that has been put in to create the production, but is especially so regarding the play.

“…I am proud of the play. I’m proud of the team that we have ….

“From September, we’ve been rehearsing. The play was written in August, it was given out in August, and we’ve been rehearsing since September, and in the fabric of …basically togetherness … that is what I’m seeing among us … so … I must be proud of the play and the cast above everything else.”

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Office, USA, is among several sponsors of the production.

After the live performances, the show will be posted online.