Something special reigns the air when black folks gather for a theatrical experience. There's a buzz, an energy and atmosphere that one doesn't find at BMDS - no matter what the play. And so it was with Basil Dawkin's What The Hell is Happening to Us Dear? The two and a half hour Jamaican play brought to the Island by the West Indian Association.

I had tickets for patron night and so took my place among the blackerati, listening to contemporary music from the diaspora and thinking positive thoughts about my race, while relishing the imminent escape from my everyday culturally schizophrenic world - feeling good and happy and lucky.

Trevor Fyfe, president of the West Indian Association stepped onto the stage to crave the audience's indulgence for another ten minutes. "This would not be a Caribbean play without a Caribbean delay," he quipped. Some laughed. But it ruined the moment for me because tardiness is not something we should be claiming as a source of ethnic/cultural pride. What the Hell.Thankfully the show itself sailed smoothly through from start to finish with few noticeable mis-steps.

A middle class family begins to fall apart when head of the household Brian Fernandez (Volier Johnson) finds himself bankrupt as a result of an economic downturn. His wife, Julie, played by veteran Grace McGhie, responds with unhealthy disdain and contempt for the man. And their 19 year old daughter, Debbie (Terri Salmon), is more interested in the nightlife than the family life, but spoilt rotten by her mother. Brian is concerned but impotent to exert any control over his daughter faced with her mother's indulgence.

On the other side of town Shatta Ranks (Winston 'Bello' Bel) has come into some serious money as a dancehall DJ. He is bereft of any values - no longer goes to church and is abusive toward Nicey (Deon Silvers) his partner and the mother of his two children.

The trouble begins when Debbie starts a relationship with her idol Shatta Ranks who sets up house with her and accelerates her descent into an underworld of vice. Resolving the crisis forces a re-examination of materialistic pursuit and we begin to see middle class delusion for what it is.

The vehicle for all this learning is of course Nicey, the most innocent and purest character. She guides Brian out of his angst, offering simple truths and a shoulder to lean on. And when confronted by a suspicious wife Nicey deals her a heavy dose of reality before sending her "outta my yard".

Shatta Ranks, a posturing, but cowardly hulk, has to be brought to some reason through the barrel of a gun. In the end the Fernandez family is reunited when Shatta returns Debbie to her parents.

The family is wiser to life's most important things, ready to start afresh and reconstruct their lives.

The story is clear, well structured, thought provoking and engaging. It is however somewhat predictable but that is muted by the fact that all five cast members deliver exciting performances.

Terri Salmon's metamorphosis from happy go lucky middle class party girl to anonymous drug abuser is startling and refreshing.

While I question whether the on stage treatment lives up to the strength of the central ideas of this play - I would have, for example, toned down the farcical, shrill elements, fleshed out Shatta Rank's character and played up the tragic elements - local playwrights should find What the Hell. quite instructive. Without too much preachiness, it delivers a contemporary, urgent message and tells a real story. Yes it started half an hour late, but it was, overall, worth the wait.

Ayo Johnson