the programme.

Fonts, forewords and introductions are as much a part of the evening as whom, what and why.

On Wednesday at the opening of THE Company's first show, "Shis Got Issues'', I found the contents of the first page, detailing the origins and mission of THE Company to be promising, indeed.

"Our mission is to present excellent original work by whomever wants to participate in our ventures.'' And "In search of excellence with people who really want to be artists is how our story begins'' are both lofty and refreshingly idealistic declarations.

The show started with a bit of a wait after the lights indicated action but beginnings on opening nights are often dodgy and the one minute wait before Patricia Pogson's voice came over the PA system to officially begin the evening's entertainment was a standard first night foible. There were no more technical glitches, always a pleasure to experience.

The show began with Gail Palacio walking through the audience to shop for "Is-shoes'' in "The Is-shoe Shop'', a skit that had the audience howling as women gathered for a shoe sale. Roma Augustus, who played a woman, angered when the staff in the store became surly because they thought that she had not said good morning, was immediately a standout with a convincing and easy stage presence.

There was the wonderful playing of percussionist Calvin Warne of "Being In Love'', a silhouette movement performance of poetry by most of the adults in the cast. The graceful movement of silhouettes against the stunning background of red was visually beautiful.

The centrepiece of this scene was a young male dancer who is one of the finest local male dancers I have seen on stage. Unfortunately the poetry here was at times bordering on doggerel and the slow staccato delivery by the cast was awkward paired with the easy rhythm of the drums.

The next three pieces, which flowed seamlessly into each other, dealt with the very real issues of bringing up teenage children followed by "Fairy Tales'' and "Message from a Fairy'', connected poems dealing with the often disappointing result of foolishly following our hearts and the unreality of our fairy tales of love. The tale, told from the wronged female and male perspective and linked verbally by clever repetition of key lines, had a somewhat disturbingly familiar ring to it.

The talented Nishanthi Bailey performed "Fairy Tales'' with real spirit.

"Never say the "L'' word unless you mean it and never say it first'' was one rather poignant line concerning the "game'' of love.

"Just because they make it in your size doesn't mean you have to wear it'' was a crowd pleaser, featuring a plus size fashion show with full-figured women, strutting to a heavy bass beat that was perfect for the scene, in skimpy outfits baring ample bosoms and excessively curvaceous lines.

The confidence in the movement was mesmerising and somewhat celebratory of the full-bodied woman. Three men watching the show, replete with guffaws and heckling, argued pros and cons of "heavy woman'' in "Drippin'' which could have been an arresting and humorous commentary on the piece before if the rhyming had not been so obvious. There were some clever lines in the poem and the delivery captured the rhythms and heavy use of cliches in Bermudian conversation, but it was a very weak follow-up to the powerful scene before.

"Bag Lady'', a fluid and truly unique dance choreographed and performed to Erykah Badu's hit of the same name followed, as dancers in African garb danced in the midst of assorted bag ladies.

One of the bag ladies, played by Laurel Burns, performed "Nickel fo a Samitch'', a truly well written piece, in the first truly inspired and powerful moment of the evening. Her resonant liquid voice and strong sense of character made me laugh one moment and open my mouth in horror the next. Her schizophrenic warp speed journey effortlessly from crazy to lucid in describing the accidental death of her baby was precious and could only have been made better by pacing and building more slowly to her dramatic moments.

Miss Burns proved repeatedly during the course of the evening to be the standout performer.

"Who's that Girl'' an enjoyable hip-hop dance to Eve's and Gwen Stefano's song of the same name eased into "Myrtle'' a hilarious and very Bermudian skit about a woman who travels to Atlanta for the weekend and returns with an American accent, weave and sassy attitude. Leighsha Darrell-Augustus made the irrepressible Myrtle come to life with perfect comedic timing and movement.

The unfortunate explication of the obvious afterward, as her gossipy friends made fun of her new accent, was unnecessary. This was evident throughout the show. Moments of real power were somewhat weakened by unnecessary extra bits.

Patricia Pogson performed her poem "Love from the Hand'' next. The poem was full of exquisite imagery and could have been even finer with some editing.

The airy title of the poem is, cleverly, somewhat deceptive. The poet spoke of "love from a soul mate's hand'', "rosy blows'' and "love ain't love unless it burns'' in this personal and stirring look at abusive relationships.

I could not help but note that Miss Pogson read from a book, a distracting device that she repeated in the second half of the show in the equally well written, witty "Milk and Honey''. If the use of the book had been written into the show it could have been effective. Also notable was that some of the actresses seemed to perform Patricia's work with more honesty and belief in the subject matter than she did.

"Purse Snatcher'' was a powerful movement piece set to music depicting, in chilling surrealism, a purse snatching, inspired I am sure by our newspaper headlines. Laurel's acting and grace made this the most memorable of the dances, which were all quite entertaining.

The second half of "Shis Got Issues'' ran more smoothly and seemed to be more even than the first half. Laurel Burns was incandescent throughout this portion as well. I hope to see much more of this young lady. There was also an outstanding young newcomer to the local stage who cast an urban spell with her rapid-fire hip-hop inspired poetry.

THE Company created and delivered a show that had flickers of brilliance and some excellent performances. Bermudians were represented, cajoled and affectionately lampooned on the City Hall stage. We could laugh at ourselves, glory in the melody and rhythm of our language, and celebrate our unique characters. The outstanding flaw of the production was the uneven writing. I would suggest serious editing in future efforts. The major strengths were the faultless comedic touches and Laurel Burns.

I am looking forward to the next show and I trust that THE Company will continue to creatively reflect Bermuda and her people.

Alan Smith Shis Got Issues runs until Saturday at City Hall. Tickets cost $20 at the door or the Box Office.

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