The Royal Court Theatre presents

Sugar Mummies ( Archived )

By Tanika Gupta

15 June - 2 September 2006

Jerwood Theatre Downstairs

All productions

Direction: Indhu Rubasingham

Design: Lez Brotherston

Lighting: Rick Fisher

Sound: Paul Groothuis

Video: Mesmer

Cast includes: Adjoa Andoh, Lynda Bellingham, Heather Craney, Jason Frederick, Lorna Gayle, Marcel McCalla, Javone Prince, Vinette Robinson and Victor Romero Evans.

Jamaica: a sensual paradise where the sun, sea and sand are free but anything more comes at a price.

Welcome to the 21st century where women travel across the world in search of sex, love, and liberation but the reality is that hard cash = hard men. Toned torsos and slick sweet talk meets orange peel beneath the coconut trees in an exchange that leaves everyone short-changed.

Sugar Mummies is a funny, provocative and revealing study of the pleasures and pitfulls of female sex tourism. Tanika Gupta’s most recent productions include SANCTUARY (National Theatre), HOBSON’S CHOICE (Young Vic) and FRAGILE LAND (Hampstead).

Supported by the COLUMBIA FOUNDATION

SUGAR MUMMIES contines at the Octagon Theatre Bolton from 12 – 16 September and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 20 – 23 September 2006.

Reviews

THE PRICE OF PASSION

Arwa Haider, 14 August, Metro

Theres trouble in paradise Tanika Guptas latest play tackles female sex tourism in contemporary Jamaica; specifically, Western women paying (mostly younger) native men for their amorous attention.

This age/gender twist has been relatively uncharted in mainstream arts however, Guptas work has always struck at the heart of varied communities and dialogue is a strength here. The chat of Anglo-American sun and-fun seekers, drawling patois and calculated seduction (Youre like a flower in my hand waiting to bloom) are entwined in the all inclusive resort of Negril.

The play treads an increasingly uneasy line between bawdy comic farce and tragic realism most pronounced in a first-act showdown between predatory middle-aged white Londoner Maggie (bronzed, brassy Lynda Bellingham) and 17-year-old would-be island gigolo Antonio (Jason Frederick). Meanwhile, we follow a budding holiday romance between mixed race Naomi (Vinette Robinson), nervously hoping to track down the Jamaican father shes never met, and proud young hotel chef Andre (Marcel McCalla).

Nearly every protagonist reveals ugly flaws but while both sexes and races employ crude tags (young buck, milk bottles), the female characters do seem more heavily caricatured here, particularly when their romantic dreams are dashed.

Emotions run high against the sandy set design and Sugar Mummies end note might have proved a melodramatic hangover. To the credit of Gupta, director Indhu Rubasingham and the nine-strong cast, its a genuinely poignant and decidedly more bitter than sweet.