MEDIATHEK

Jab Molassie is a Trinidad & Tobago adaptation of Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat. It is a music-theatre performance piece written for 5 voices, 9 musicians and 1 dancer. Jab Molassie is a universal tale which explores themes relevant to contemporary society. The story presents the dilemma faced when confronted with sacrificing values in exchange for gain, but at a price. This new work premiered at the Little Carib Theatre in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago from November 6-9, 2014. 

// The story is set in Trinidad where a corporal, interpreted in two voices, male and female, narrates the tale of Starboy, a gifted musician with a bright future who unwittingly sells his soul, represented by his violin, to Jab Molassie, whose character is also interpreted in two voices, one male and one female. Imagining that in exchange for his instrument he will gain all the riches promised to him by Jab Molassie and his magic book of gambling tips, Starboy cannot predict the heavy price he will pay for this exchange. Nor does he imagine that he will be lost forever... or will he? The piece is 55 minutes long and the set is designed to be portable. 

// The creation and development of Jab Molassie took place over a four year period between 2010 and 2014. The libretto was originally intended to be set to Stravinsky’s music, however in 2011 the librettist, Caitlyn Kamminga, met Trinidad and Tobago born composer Dominique Le Gendre and the idea developed between them that Le Gendre would write original music inspired by Stravinsky. The need to fund the creation of this and future works led to the formation of Calabash Foundation for the Arts in 2012. CFA formally commissioned Dominique Le Gendre to write original music for Jab Molassie in November 2012. The work was developed through two workshops in January and May 2013. A vital aspect of all stages of the development of Jab Molassie is that students of the University of Trinidad and Tobago benefitted through apprenticeships and understudy roles inclusive of credit applicable in their degree programme. The creative team behind Jab Molassie has envisaged the work not only as a piece of art that is entertaining, but also as a portable work suitable for secondary school students across the Caribbean and in diaspora based communities internationally. A music education pack is part of the material that has been developed. 

Project website: www.jabmolassie.com