ALFRED PRAGNELL - The Way to a Man's Heart

Please sit and enjoy Jeanette Layne-Clarke's humorous radio series based on the life of some fictional Barbadian characters. Hushfield (the husband of Dora) Dora and Gwennie (Dora's sister and Hushfield's favourite sister-in-law). Hushfield is played by Alfred Pragnell, Dora is played by Andrea Gollop and Gwennie by Marvo Manning My collage of sorts - scenic Seaside Views, Tropical Flora, City Lights, Chattel Houses, Cultural performers, Old Buses, some favourite Bajan Dishes, the Island's Youth at Play, Historical Buildings (some in their glory others in their demise). This is a sampling of the essence that makes us, 'WE'. Barbadians first, West Indian second and Caribbean forever.

[@ALC111Saint]

Always make me laugh until I cry. I remember him from my days as a teenager

[@mariettaking4211]

Nice to hear the stuff from the old days!

[@yukiwells8257]

Real bajan talk, lol

[@rosemarielayne9117]

A loyal Jeannette Layne-Clark fan was posthumously recognised as the curtain came down on the final production of Pampalam at the Queen’s College school hall in 2010.
This honour was bestowed on Mrs. Minta Forde, adjudged “Most Ardent Pampalam Fan” over the years by the show’s new producer and director, Pauline Layne.
In accepting the award on her behalf, Forde’s daughter, Yolande, accompanied by her sister, Juliette, said it was “a most honourable gesture which reflected the deep appreciation that the production team and cast members hold for those who have over the years loved and extolled the virtues of this of this theatrical expression of all that is Bajan.”
She recalled how her mother “enjoyed her social life attending several cultural shows.” However, it was evident that Pampalam was the highlight of her calendar of events. “Mummy and I would come to Pampalam early in the season with a friend or two. When she got home, she would call up some friends, tell them how great Pampalam was, and that the show should not be missed. She would secure their tickets, transport them and watch the show again.
“The following day, with great enthusiasm, she would call some more friends and come back to the show with them, and repeat the process. Some years my mother happily attended Pampalam three times”, Forde recalled. On one occasion her mother was heard “instructing a friend who was not very out-going to ‘put on some of the nice clothes that your daughter sends for you from New York and come to Pampalam, do! I will be picking you up at 7.15.’”, her daughter recounted enthusiastically.
Layne, in addressing the audience, shared that one year when the show had sold out, Forde sought out every cast member she knew to obtain tickets. Eventually, it was through knowing Lottie (Angela) Weithers’ mother, and making enquires of the postman for the area, that she ended up on Weithers’ doorstep. “Lottie put her in touch with Jeannette who was only too happy to oblige. From then on, every year Jeannette made sure that there were seats set aside for Mrs. Forde, whether she had tickets or not.”
Before presenting the award, Layne told a packed hall that Mrs. Forde, who passed on in 2005, greatly admired and enjoyed Layne-Clark’s work, and as such had acquired and carefully stored anything ever done by, or about her sister. Evidence of this was seen in the large envelope brought by her daughter containing a sample of the memorabilia she methodically archived - videotapes, programmes of shows dating back to 1988, the May 1987 “Lickmout’ Lou Review” and all of the books authored by Layne-Clark.
Forde, a criminologist by profession, remarked that her mother, and indeed, the many others who have followed the work of the late writer, “did not view Jeanette as a mere writer and producer of Pampalam, but recognized her rare talent in the ability to be an exponent of excellent English, while extolling the virtues of Bajan dialect, which she used to full dramatic effect! Usually these are seen as two diametrically opposed phenomena, but somehow Jeannette managed to be the embodiment of both. “