Honor Ford-Smith

These three remarkable and sometimes hilarious Jamaican plays speak simultaneously about memory and the present, violence and creativity, belonging and dispossession. They draw on myriad dramatic strategies, and their voices, themes and motifs traverse a critical decade in Caribbean society, revealing the deep divisions underlying ideas of nation and enacting alternative visions of community and identity.

"The three seminal plays in this brilliantly edited collection never fail to illuminate “the lingering aftershock” of postcolonial Jamaican society. This is essential reading."
-Yvonne Brewster, Co-founder of the Barn Theatre (Jamaica), founder and Artistic Director (1985-2003) of the Talawa Theatre Company (UK)

"These plays speak to Jamaica’s future as well as its troubled past. Animated by the rich cadences of vernacular dialogue, they are alive to the possibilities of performance as a kind of civic archeology, enticing us to piece together the historical fragments and echoes that underpin the nation’s social fabric. A rare resource, judiciously edited by a scholar and writer who has shared the sweat and tears of making theatre in this milieu."
Helen Gilbert, Professor of Theatre, University of London (UK)

"A unique volume, filling a significant gap in coverage for courses on postcolonial theatre across the Americas. The three vibrant and provocative plays represent a range of different styles and genres in ways that are at once accessible and provocative."
Ric Knowles, Professor of Theatre Studies, University of Guelph (Canada)

"A groundbreaking collection, superbly contextualised by Honor Ford-Smith's commentary."
- Mervyn Morris, University of the West Indies (Jamaica)

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