Hamilton Town Crier Edward Christopher is used to telling people what to do, loudly. No surprise then, that following orders proved a bit of a challenge when he joined the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society’s production of Stick Fly. Another struggle for the 59-year-old? Sticking to the script.

“I’m not used to people telling me what to do,” he laughed. “But the process has been good for me. It’s good to take a little direction sometimes.

“I’m used to making up my own scripts, and ad-libbing. While rehearsing for Stick Fly, I often forget myself and start saying the lines the way Ed Christopher would say them, rather than as my character would say them.”

Stick Fly was written by American playwright Lydia Diamond. It opens at Daylesford Theatre next week.It follows an affluent African-American family on vacation in their second home, on Martha’s Vineyard.

The weekend is supposed to be relaxing, but the two sons bring their girlfriends to meet the family; one of them is white. There’s a clashing of opinions, family secrets are unravelled and a flare-up of sibling rivalry.

“The play shows that sometimes rich people have lots of closets, with lots of skeletons in them,” Mr Christopher joked. “There is a deeper level to it, about racism and privilege, but it also has some very funny moments.”

Mr Christopher said he could identify with his character, Joseph LeVay, as he also has two sons. But having children is where the similarities stop.

“Joseph is the patriarch of the family,” Mr Christopher said. “He is a bit of a womaniser. He shows preference for one son over another and I love all of my children equally.

“There is a lot of dysfunction in the LeVay family. Joseph often shows more fatherliness to outsiders than to his own sons.

“He’s not all bad though. There are parts of him that everyone can identify with. That’s what makes it a good play.”

Mr Christopher was last on stage six years ago in the Gilbert & Sullivan Society play Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He does not remember his last BMDS performance.

“I can’t remember exactly how long it’s been but it’s probably around 18 years,” he said. “I don’t remember what the last BMDS production was that I was in, either, but I know I was in many pantomimes.

“One of them was the Three Musketeers. I remember I played God in one of the pantomimes.

“Being in Stick Fly is like stepping back in time. Not much has changed about BMDS. It’s the same crowd at the bar. It’s the same friendly atmosphere. There has been a little work done to the stage and the seating.”

There has been such a gap in his acting career because he has been busy.

“It’s really about scheduling and balancing my other commitments,” he said. “When someone approached me about being in the play, it was a good time as things are quiet for me in the winter.”

He fell in love with acting as a boy.

“I was inspired by actors like Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte,” he said. “I had a crazy, happy childhood. I was the middle child of five, and both my two sisters and my two brothers were involved with acting and singing, in some capacity.

“My earliest experiences were in school productions at Prospect Primary such as King Midas Has Donkey Ears. Marjorie Pettit was a teacher there at that time, although she was Marjorie Smith back then. Under her, we had one of the first primary school operas in Bermuda.”

When he got older he took a practical route. He studied mechanical engineering at the Bermuda Technical Institute, later working at Lucas House and HWP.

His deep booming voice often got him noticed. He was asked to become the Hamilton Town Crier shortly before Queen Elizabeth’s visit in 1994.

Since then he has gone on to participate in crying competitions and has won prizes and trophies for the work.

“As the town crier I have talked with people about getting the decibel level of my cry measured,” he said. “I was supposed to do that at TCD, but something happened and it didn’t go ahead.”

He also sings with the band Prestige. Sometimes crying, singing and acting, can be hard on his vocal chords.

“I don’t get hoarse but my throat can get very dry,” he said. “I live on [the throat lozenge] Fisherman’s Friend. When I feel my throat getting dry I know I have to give it a rest.”

Che Barker, India Wilson, Kathelin Lembert, Taylor Paige Stienlet and Adrian Kawaley-Lathan are also in the play, which opens at 7pm on February 11 with complimentary cocktails.

Audience members are encouraged to come “dressed to impress” as the theatre will be transformed into the LeVays’ posh Martha’s Vineyard home.

• Stick Fly continues until February 13, and from February 18 to 20 with show times at 8pm. Tickets are $30 and are available from www.ptix.bm