9Works Theatrical’s ‘Once on This Island’

The set and costume design created by Mio Infante looks almost ethereal—with cloth hanging from the ceiling that looks almost like a massive jellyfish. A boardwalk surrounds the stage, free for the cast members to use to better paint the scenes. Minute details are scattered throughout the musical, which is great for flavour. One such instance is during the song The Sad Tale of the Beauxhommes, where everyone on stage wore a black mask to represent their peasant status while the French coloniser Armand wore a white mask. These tiny details often go unnoticed but provide a nice touch of detail that deserves to be recognised.

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All four Gods are mischievous when one reads the characters superficially, as seen in the song And the Gods Heard Her Prayer. As Ti Moune sleeps after praying for her life to begin, the four Gods playfully discuss how to answer her. Asaka proposes to drop a mango from a tree to knock some sense in Ti Moune, while Agwe wants to splash her with a wave, and Papa Ge wishes to scare her half to death. Only Erzulie decides to give her what she wants, shocking the other Gods. A bet is then made between the Goddess of Love and the Demon of Death to see which prevails—a bet that Asaka and Agwe find amusement in. With this, the peasant girl’s course is set as she finds Daniel wounded in a car crash caused by a storm conjured by Agwe.

While Papa Ge is the main antagonist of the musical, he is by no means evil. He is simply collecting the debt owed after winning his side of the bet. Even with his right to take Ti Moune, he instead offers her a choice—one that teaches her not to confine herself to a boy who is quick to cast her out. I would argue that Agwe or Daniel has more malicious intent than the Sly Demon of Death—given that the former would willingly cause violent storms that harm the poor villagers and the latter betrayed Ti Moune’s love.

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The cast consisted of multiple Star Magic and Sparkle artists like Garrett Bolden, Jordan Andrews, and Thea Astley, who performed their roles beautifully. Theatre veterans such as Radha, Lorenz Martinez, and Lani Ligot, alongside many others, also join the ensemble, adding a touch of experience. Each actor present perfectly captured the essence of their characters—with a special shout to Jonjon Martin, who generated thunderous applause every time he would appear onstage.

Throughout the musical, all the peasants spoke in a thick islander accent. This fits perfectly with the story’s context and how the production was originally done. Notably, everyone had a fine eloquence to the new speech pattern. However, one such surprise was that of Daniel, who also harboured the accent. The character could go entirely without it as he lived his whole life among the grand hommes with little to no interaction with the peasants. 

Overall, Once on This Island is a fun time for everyone—allowing those waiting for life to begin seeing themselves in Ti Moune while picking up a few lessons. It’s a theatrical demonstration of an ensemble piece done right, which can be attributed to Robbie Guevara’s masterful direction and the spectacular performance of every cast member.

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