The Daily Swarm

New York Times:

Trevor Rhone, the award-winning Jamaican playwright, director and actor who brought his island’s culture to the world as a writer of the groundbreaking film “The Harder They Come,” died on Tuesday in Kingston, Jamaica, where he lived. He was 69.

The cause was apparently a heart attack, his wife, Camella, said.

Renowned throughout the Caribbean for plays like “Smile Orange” and “Old Story Time,” Mr. Rhone helped pioneer Jamaica’s indigenous theater, bringing pitch-perfect dialect and character studies to the local stage.

“He loved the music of our language,” said his lifelong friend, the Jamaican actress Leonie Forbes, who studied with him in England.

The Jamaican actress and broadcaster Fae Ellington, a longtime friend, said, “If he wrote five words for you, they were the best five words.”

Jamaica Gleaner:

The cultural community mourns the sudden passing of Trevor Rhone, multi-talented theatre practitioner. With his departure, the Jamaican cultural arts scene is undoubtedly the poorer. This is the time when, according to the contemporary custom, the designation of ‘icon’ is easily applied. Although overuse of the term has created some reservations as to exactly who is an icon, and what qualifies them for the honour, in the case of Trevor Rhone, we can with certainty agree that his extensive contribution to the cultural development of Jamaica, indeed, the Caribbean, is worthy of recognition as one of our iconic cultural figures.

Trevor Rhone, who died suddenly on Tuesday at the age of 69, was a multi-talented, multi-skilled practitioner of his craft. He was known perhaps best of all for his mastery as a playwright, exploring themes of the experience of ordinary folk, from urban to rural, and bringing them to the stage where, in the hands of accomplished actors, they came alive.