From playing the drums at his local church to performing in Irish pubs, Duane Forrest has now graduated to the global stage and returns to San Francisco with two musical theatre pieces, “Bob Marley: How Reggae Changed the World” (that Duane performed with the San Francisco International Arts Festival to great acclaim last year) and “Tree of Dreams,” a work that is being created in San Francisco with Bay Area artists, K. Sid Zhang and Connor Lifson that will be presented as a work-in-progress.
“Bob Marley” is an award-winning piece that imbues aspects of music, storytelling, and singalong while simultaneously discussing reggae’s origins. Since Duane’s last performances in San Francisco in 2025, he has continued to tour the piece around the world including an extended Off-Broadway run in New York and the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia (where I finally managed to interview him via Zoom).
When asked what ‘reggae’ as a genre meant to him, Duane shared that “it’s music about resistance and resilience, that’s what it means to me.”
He further elaborates, “My parents are Jamaican so I grew up with that, it’s the first music I can remember hearing so it’s a part of everything.”
In reflecting how music grew from a personal love to an ambitious pursuit, the artist recalls a story of his performing at an Irish pub and seeing a drunken group of friends rambunctiously enjoy the music despite not understanding what the song meant.
In asking how he got started, Duane shares that “[I] kind of realized that, not just reggae, but a lot of music in general [can be enjoyed] without actually knowing what it’s saying. So, I thought that I could make a little show unpacking what the music means and the weight of it.”
I asked him about how his relationship with reggae and music as a genre has developed since he created the show. He pointed out the paradoxical experience he has with the medium: “In music the more you learn about it, the less you know. It’s like an ocean, I feel like I know so little.”
But there are things Duane wants Bay Area audiences to take away from “Bob Marley.” He says, “Reggae is about a lot more than smoking weed. It is our story, the story of my ancestors, and it matters.”
Duane also reflected on his journey touring “Bob Marley” since its premiere in 2024. He considers having played the Soho Playhouse Off-Broadway for a whole month the highlight. “I’ve been on those streets in New York imagining myself performing there one day. Thinking it would never, ever happen!”
Somewhat fittingly, this provides an ideal lead in for Duane’s other work being presented at the festival, “Tree of Dreams,” which he says doubles as a message to his younger self, the message being, “Your dream is not over yet.” He adds that “nothing’s lost, it’s all just changing. Don’t give up, no matter how big or small the dream you have in your heart is, it’s important.”
“Tree of Dreams” is about Duane’s experience growing up in government housing in Toronto. Much of the action of the play is conveyed through puppetry and projections in collaboration with Zhang and Lifson. Duane met the pair in Edinburgh in 2024, where they all had their respective (sold-out and award winning) shows playing on the Edinburgh Fringe. A relationship and a plan were developed to create the work in San Francisco. This year’s performances will be the second iteration of this plan. Audiences are invited to be part of the creative process.
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