The recent performance of the Jamaican play Ova Mi Dead Body by Paul Beale was a very timely intervention where the state of Caribbean theatre is concerned. It has much to say about the rise of the popular theatre and its significant place in contemporary drama of the region. It raises issues of recent trends in the popular theatre and what the meaning of these trends is, including the serious inclusion of the audience in theatre that is built on a great deal of laughter.
Paul O Beale’s play was produced by Stages, an extremely successful performance company in Jamaica that is both product and producer. It has been pushed and directed by the most popular trends and, by its practices and performances also contributes to pushing and deepening these trends. What Stages has done is make an alert commercial response to the demands of the popular audience and, at the same time, produce things that would hold