University of South Florida

School of Theatre & Dance

College of the Arts

Ti-Jean and His Brothers

TheatreUSF presents Ti-Jean and His Brothers, a folk tale.

Ti­-Jean and His Brothers, a folk tale

Oct. 24-26 and Oct. 30-Nov. 2 at 8 p.m.
Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 at 3 p.m.
Theatre 2, USF Tampa Campus

Based on a West Indian fable...

Nobel Prize-winning author Derek Walcott explores the power of good versus evil, poor versus wealthy and the search for what defines humanness. This folk tale—told by the animals of the rainforest through dialogue, dance and song—tells the tale of a poor widowed mother, her three sons, and their bargain with the devil.

Directed by Macy's Guest Artist Henry Muttoo, Artistic Director of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation.

Great review by Mark Leib in Creative Loafing.

Costume design renderings by faculty member, Yao Chen.

A character is facing another character on his right, gesturing with his left arm with his palm out as if he were going to make a downward slicing motion while his right hand is curled against his abdomen. The character on the right of the first character is seated facing the audience with his head facing the first character and is smiling.
A character snarls facing the audience and is flexing his muscles, while a character resembling a devil figure stands over the first character as if goading him on.
A character stands on stage dress\.
Four characters are grouped on stage. Three are looking solemnly toward the audience (two standing, one kneeling holding a thick stick on his shoulder, the character at the far left is holding a stick in his hand). One character is sitting on the ground reading a book.
A character made to look like a creature with grey skin points downstage.
A group of four characters are grouped onstage, one dressed as a bird, one as a frog, and the other two are dressed as creatures that resemble insects or birds of some kind by wearing vibrant colors and feathery antennae appendages.
A character with a mask carries a bundle of sticks on their shoulder.
A group of characters converses on stage. A character stands at stage left watching someone speak at the far right and is holding a stick in his right hand. The character at the far right is speaking while holding a book and is looking at two characters in the center of the stage, one is sitting on the ground while the other sits above the first on a box of some kind. They are all watched by characters dressed as animals, one of which being a frog directly behind the pair in the center of the stage.
A character is dressed as a bird and is stretching out their arms as if spreading their wings.
A character grins maniacally while another character holds a longhorn skull that faces the first character, who is looking toward the skull.
A character dressed as a devil figure gestures onstage.
A woman sits, holding a stick erect in her hand, facing the audience. Another woman stands over the first woman with her hands clasped over the first woman’s chest.
A man dressed as a farmer smiles at characters dressed as a bee and a frog. A character dressed as a bird and another insect watches this exchange while two other characters in red costumes stand back to back behind the farmer holding poles erect.
A man dressed as a farmer holds a pole in fear as two characters in red costuming wave red silk ribbons in the air.

HENRY D. MUTTOO

Widely recognized as one of the Caribbean’s leading theatre practitioners, and arguably the region’s finest theatre designer, Henry Muttoo is a rare talent with a multiplicity of artistic skills: he is an award-winning actor, theatre director and designer, carnival designer, painter, writer, editor and amateur calypso historian. 

Educated at the University of the West Indies (St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago), Croydon College of Art & Design, and Rose Bruford College (Manchester University) in the United Kingdom, Mr. Muttoo has worked as a professional in the theatre and arts industry for over forty years, teaching, directing and designing in Guyana, England, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, the United States and the Cayman Islands. He has designed and/or directed for most of the major Caribbean playwrights and directors, including Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, Trevor Rhone, Rawle Gibbons, Lloyd Reckord, Earl Warner and Barbara Gloudon. 

His vision for the development of culture and the arts in the Cayman Islands has advanced the Cayman National Cultural Foundation from an organization that only managed the Harquail Theatre to one that is now a fully-fledged and widely respected arts organization producing several plays, two annual major arts festivals, training young Caymanians in several arts disciplines, documenting cultural enactments and re-enactments, publishing poetry, plays, an arts and culture journal and other materials, offering grants to artists, recognizing and promoting the work of talented Caymanians, and working with educational institutions to improve the quality and quantity of work produced by young people. 

Mr. Muttoo has won several awards for his work including two Cacique awards for theatre design from Trinidad, a National Drama Award from the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, a National Best Actor award from the Theatre Guild of Guyana and a Director of the Year award from the Cayman National Theatre Company.

He was recently made an Officer Of The Order Of The Cayman Islands (OC), inducted into the Caribbean Theatre Hall of Fame and was most recently made a Member of The British Empire (MBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. 

Henry Muttoo has been the Artistic Director of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation since 1989.