Jamaica Farewell @ Pleasance Courtyard

If Debra Ehrhardt’s Jamaica Farewell were an entry at a story-telling competition, she’d win hands down. Her attempt to leave the eponymous island during the political upheaval of the 1970s, while carrying over a million dollars in cash, has all the ingredients of the incredible-but-true, you-couldn’t-make-it-up, stranger-than-fiction tale.

As a stand alone piece of theatre, however, Jamaica Farewell falls short in a few respects. The people populating Ehrhardt’s story remain caricatures of themselves: she portrays a strictly religious mother, a loveable, alcoholic father, and a handsome American CIA agent who squirms at the local cuisine. Not everyone likes goat testicles for lunch. The characters don’t gain more definition, and the story remains similarly flat when Ehrhardt sees herself faced with violence or loss. The darker turns in Jamaica Farewell are quickly glossed over, or covered up with slapstick humour. Even in portraying her younger self, Ehrhardt doesn't manage to go far beyond bringing across a certain naiveté and a fascination with American shopping malls and theme parks.

The best described character in the tale is Jamaica itself. Ehrhardt takes her audience across the island, describing its flavours and scenery while casually impressing upon them the disorienting, dangerous situation she wanted to escape. Far from assuming any kind of victimhood, she instead describes a reality of making light of things, making do with what there is and making plans to get out. Overall, the story is very compelling, and Ehrhardt holds the audience’s attention throughout the show. And in the end, without her attempted escape to the US, there wouldn’t be a story to begin with.