2 out of 4 stars
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“Sons of Beauty Island” is a play written by Narayan Jumnoodoo that’s rich with political themes. It centres on two brothers from the Venchard family that initially have different perspectives of their homeland, Beauty Island, then later reconcile to create a communist party that strives to improve the country for the citizens’s sake. Jim is the patriotic brother whereas Allen wants to immigrate to France, where he desires to begin a new life. Eventually, Allen joins Jim’s party, The Fraternal Party, and both work hand in hand to develop their values and ideas of government restricting.
Despite the disclaimer of the play not resembling the political situation in Mauritius, it came across as a creative method for suggestions to improve the government and social life. This can be seen in the dialogue in various acts when a character reads aloud a newspaper/magazine article or when Jim is questioned about the organization of his potential government.
Along with being a creative criticism piece, the play alluded to others. Whilst reading over II.IV, the citizens closely resembled those from William Shakespeare’s “Julius Cesar” minus the riot; their lines were distinctly similar. This led me to believe Jim would face the same problem as Julius did considering the extreme left-wing side the play was leaning towards. I was pleasantly surprised though but the conclusion was less than satisfactory. This may have been due to the attempt of creative license but it was if the playwright was making an inside joke only he would understand.
Unfortunately, the initial promise of an intriguing plot disintegrates with the absence of development of the characters. The party’s name reflects the development of the characters as all the females are incredibly flat with the only purpose of being mates to the men in question. Of the characters in the Venchard family, Jim is the playwright’s mouthpiece and doesn’t undergo any development, Allen’s sudden passion for the country doesn’t make much sense and again, the citizens in Act II are nearly the same from Shakespeare’s Julius Cesear. Jim’s colleagues seem randomly placed for the sake of numbers and the love stories seem to serve a purpose but it is not cohesive enough to fulfill the purpose intended.
All in all, “Sons of Beauty Island” is not a play I would read again nor would it be something I’d invest time in watching. The only reason for that is that the theme of love reiterated too much for my liking and doesn’t have the subtle nature a play usually does. Although, it definitely did pique my interest of the politics and lifestyle of Mauritius, both of which I’ll be researching it at a later time. This is a play meant for those with an interest in or with a background of political science since it can be used as a case study. I completely understand what the playwright was attempting to do but I strongly feel the execution could have been much smoother.
I rate this play 2 out of 4 stars. With more attention and diversity placed into dialogue to create a 3-dimensional feel, the play would've stood out. It had a great premise which was lost in the pursuit of political idealism. The amount of information given could have been spread out in a scene instead of clumped into one speech block. I did enjoy the light social commentary utilized so for that reason, I give it a higher rating than a 1.
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Sons of Beauty Island
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