Delcita’s now a legal secretary
Actress Andrea Wright expands character’s role in The Real Wife
Most actors are weary about being typecast, but playing the same character for the past 32 years has brought Andrea Wright notoriety.
Hard-core roots theatre fans know her as Delcita, the uncultured bumpkin who was created by playwright Paul O Beale in the early 1990s.
Wright’s latest Delcita production is The Real Wife which opens May 5 at Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston. It will be followed by shows in Morant Bay, Mandeville, and Drax Hall.
In The Real Wife, which Wright wrote, Delcita is a legal secretary.
In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, she said her alter ego is popular in the Jamaican Diaspora, as well as the Eastern Caribbean.
Depending on where she plays, Delcita adapts.
“Delcita has performed in the Eastern Caribbean, United States, Canada, and England. She is the most travelled local female theatre actress. Therefore, whereas she predominantly speaks the Jamaican dialect, there are many times that she infuses a heavy dose of Standard English to crack communication barriers and deliver her comedy. One such country is Guyana. Their dialect and accent is significantly different,” Wright explained. “Delcita switches to about 70 per cent English when she plays in most Eastern Caribbean islands. Her character has ranged from surrogate mom, helper, and remedial student, to Patchie’s girlfriend and legal secretary.”
A guidance counsellor by profession, Wright made her stage debut in 1989 as Ms Agnis in
Mus Mus Tail. Other roles followed until Beale cast her as Delcita in Delcita And Stamma.
The character has become one of the most revered in roots theatre, a slapstick genre that erupted during the 1980s through the creativity of colourful producer Ralph Holness and writers Ginger Knight and Balfour Anderson.
While their productions packed the halls, mainstream theatre scoffed at their ribald content. Wright dismisses such criticism as elitist, arguing that there is a place for roots plays in Jamaica.
As for Delcita, she never tires of playing the unvarnished character.
“It feels great playing Delcita. Her fanbase is wide and the Diaspora loves her. The late Paul O Beale understood the character the most and his writing was spot-on,” she said. “Now, I have taken on the scriptwriting and directing and it’s twice the brain work.”
