Take a bow
Come this Friday, theatre practitioner David Tulloch will make his 1,000th curtain call as an actor.
Tulloch ,who is currently appearing in Sugar Daddy, a play he also wrote and directed, will step into the lights and accept the applause of the audience for yet another time when it takes to the boards at the Phoenix Theatre in St Andrew.
He sees this as being monumental and a noteworthy moment in an industry where nothing is guaranteed.
“Some actors never get this opportunity, and here in Jamaica we don’t celebrate our own triumphs,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
“I have come a long way since my early days with the Jamaica Musical Theatre Company, where I appeared in productions such as Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Guys and Dolls, and Purlie; to my own works including Glass Slipper, Confessions and W ine and Roses, so I am proud of this accomplishment. We need to celebrate this thing we call theatre in Jamaica and as practitioners we must begin to value our craft we will get the respect we seek externally,” he continued.
Interestingly Tulloch was never meant to have an acting role in the current production, but after casting was complete and the initial rehearsals comenced the actor chosen had to withdraw from the project. With little time to spare, the writer, producer and director had to don his acting hat and step up to the plate playing George Leslie, the middle aged businessman whose 25-year marriage and business plans seemed to have hit a plateau and his wife wants out. Things heat up for George when he hires a young housekeeper.
“ I really did want to do it, but it just had to be done. There were persons in theatre who told me I wasn’t a good fit for the role of a sugar daddy. They thought I was too young,” said the 37 year old.
“That made me just dig deeper. I quickly realised I had to create something distinctive about George. I decided to grow my hair so that my receding hair line would become apparent. I also grew out my beard and gave George a distinctive voice and mannerisms. But the hardest thing was convincing myself to handle the intimate scenes which are part of the character,” he continued.
Sugar Daddy is the final instalment in a trilogy of erotic thrillers that Tulloch has penned, produced and directed. He started with Risqué in 2012 and followed up with 3Some four years later.
Despite the success of Sugar Daddy he insists that this is the final work in the genre as he wants to move on to other areas of theatre.
“I am so pleased with how Sugar Daddy is doing. We have been getting requests from out of town and even the overseas markets of New York and Florida. I am really happy with what it has been doing so far but this is definitely the last one. I don’t what to become known for this genre only. I am happy I was able to showcase these productions and move on to other things. We now have so many people come saying that they are seeing this genre for the very first time on a Jamaican stage. This combines a strong story line, drama and comedy and is spiced with the erotic element. I keep saying we have been doing this since 2012.”
In order to satisfy some of the patrons who are just being introduced to this genre, Tulloch will be staging a one night only, two-for-one special showcase of these works in October.
“On Saturday, October 6 we will be playing Risqué and 3Some and on the following night it will be Sugar Daddy and As He Watches which is a play written by Sabrena Thomas and directed by me,” said Tulloch.