Veteran Artistic Director, KEITH NOEL (left) and Executive Producer Sydney Reid are caught in deep discussion at the recent audition exercise to cast Ginger Knights hilarious play Higglers, scheduled to open in Montego Bay on December 26, 2010.

Montego Bay, get ready, as Ginger Knights original stage play Higglers is set to hit the stage inside the MoBay Civic Centre come December 26, with a grand gala opening night.

This signals the start of the theatre season in Jamaica, as all new plays are opened in Kingston around this time, and so patrons in Montego Bay and western Jamaica in particularly, will be afforded the same opportunity as those in Kingston to watch new plays during the Christmas season. Higglers will also play on December 27 and every weekend in January at the same venue.

Sydney Reid, the executive producer has teamed up with veteran director Keith Noel out of Kingston to put some of the best actors in Montego Bay on stage to perform in this torrid Ginger Knight Box office hit play, the original Higglers.

The stage production is like nothing you have ever seen in modern days, as the stage is expected to explode with the energy coming from the actors as they revel in the witty Ginger Knight script, coupled with the riotous response from the audience.

The play is now in full rehearsal, and the excitement is building in all quarters, as patrons wait for opening night. The executive producer is making all performances available to civic groups, clubs and organizations, as a benefit show to raise much needed funds to assist in their community outreach programmes. There will also be group rates available for companies and schools among others.

HIGGLERS
Ginger Knights Higglers is a hilarious look at a serious issue.  Beneath the fun and excitement that surrounds the lives of higglers, Girlie, Pearl and Tony, there is much to think about.

Girlie, whose father had a relationship with her friend and classmate Desiree when they were attending school, is an angry woman who, while pregnant, attacks and beats a woman over her man.

Pearl has no problem in starting a relationship with Tony and another with Girlies boyfriend, even while she is living with the father of her two children.

Tony, on the other hand is a laid off civil servant who marries Desiree, but leaves her and starts higglering. She comes to the street side and routinely embar****es him. This leads to much excitement.

Apart from the humour and romance, there are the exciting chases by the police, who are assigned to get them off the streets and their well documented confrontations with the customs officer they call Saddam. It is an amusing but realistic look at life. There remain much more to the lives of these higglers.

A LOOK AT THE CHARACTERS
Girlie, Pearl and Tony are three higglers determinedly making a living from their juggling on the roadside. Girlie has had a rough childhood and is estranged from her father whom she blames for he mothers death. When she was in school her father also had a relationship with her schoolmate Desiree, who, at the time was her friend. Pearl another school friend is also a higgler.

Tony is the third higgler around whom the plot is weaved. Married to Desiree, who made it through high school with Girlies and Pearls help, he rebels and sets out on the streets and become a most successful higgler. He eventually leaves Desiree and she vows to win him back.

When he lost his job Desiree, who is a domineering control freak, takes care of him, but demands his complete obedience. This is the situation that drove him away from her.

The love/hate mix up between Tony, Desiree, Pearl, Girlie and Trevor, Pearls gunman boyfriend, brings much excitement and humour, but also reveals tenderness and caring in the two major characters.

We see all the travails of the higgler running from the police; battling with unsympathetic customs officers; facing thieves and robbers; and dealing with the insult of some road users; Pearls boyfriend is also involved in the drug trade, and that too has an impact on the play. There are also other travails like the burning down of the arcade.

To top it all off, Desiree wishes Tony to leave the street side and return home to her. She challenges and insults Girlie and Pearl and eventually Girlie attacks her, ushering in another piece of drama to their lives. In the end, as in all good comedy, every thing works out well. The wicked get their just reward and the lovers still come together.

Partnered in the project are Jamaica Jazz and Blues, Verney House Resorts, Knutsford Express, Zinc Shak and Sea Gardens Resort.