The UK Premiere of Debra Ehrhardt’s Jamaica, Farewell - 7th October - 26th October 2008, London

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“Exuberant! High Comedy!” – NEW YORK TIMES

“Winning! The evening’s real pleasure is simply Ehrhardt herself, She’s got it going on, living every day like Independence Day.” -LA TIMES

“Powerful…with wit and a melodic Jamaican lilt, Ehrhardt proves to be an entertaining and charming raconteur.” – THE NEW YORKER

“Fantastic! An emotional journey that does full justice to the drama of her life-changing off-stage odyssey” – TIME OUT NY

“A brilliant evening’s entertainment…Debra Ehrhardt held the audience spellbound…Some serious talents involved here.” PERRY HENZELL DIRECTOR, “HARDER THEY COME,”

The Hackney Empire Studio presents the UK premiere of the award-winning playwright and actor Debra Ehrhardt’s JAMAICA, FAREWELL, based on her true-life story. A 2007 NYC Fringe Festival award-winner, JAMAICA, FAREWELL comes to the UK following sell out and critically acclaimed runs in New York, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Atlanta, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Virginia and Toronto.

JAMAICA, FAREWELL tells the story of Debra Ehrhardt’s journey in which she escapes revolution-torn Jamaica in the 1970’s. Left to her own devices, she risked prison time, and even death in an attempt to pull off a daring and dangerous caper with the unwitting help of an infatuated American CIA agent to fulfil her lifelong dream of starting over in America.

DEBRA EHRHARDT (Writer/Performer). A native of Kingston Jamaica, Debra Ehrhardt fled to the US during the politically unstable seventies. This is her third one-woman show. Previous productions include Mango, Mango which received two NAACP Awards and Invisible Chairs, which was produced by David Strasberg at the Marilyn Monroe Theatre in West Hollywood and later optioned as a situation comedy by Fox. She received a 2007 Proclamation from the City of New York for JAMAICA, FAREWELL for her “Outstanding Contribution to the Jamaican Community.” A member of the Writer’s Guild of America, Ms. Ehrhardt is currently adapting JAMAICA, FAREWELL for the big screen.

FRANCIS MEGAHY (Director) is an ex-UK TV director, who has made his home in Hollywood for the past decade. He began as a BBC documentary director, and then wrote and directed for many top-rated series, including Lovejoy, Minder and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. He was also a stand-up comic, working in Peter Cook’s Establishment Club, and with the Johnny Dankworth Orchestra. His dramatised documentary about the robbery of the vaults of the Societe Generale in 1982, starring Ian McShane, remains the third-highest movie ever shown on UK TV. Among the actors he first gave leading roles to are Pete Postlethwaite [in Minder] and Pierce Brosnan [Hammer House of Horror]. Megahy has wrapped post-production on a documentary about the influence of Big Business on US politics; and has a romantic comedy movie, Only in LA, coming out in 2009.