Derek Walcott

Walcott as Playwright and Theorist

Derek Walcott's more than 20 published plays speak to the popularity of his dramatic works. The majority of these plays have been produced by the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, and have also been widely staged elsewhere. Many of them deal, either directly or indirectly, with the liminal status of the West Indies in the postcolonial period. Epistemological, ontological, economical, political, and social themes make regular appearances in Walcott's plays.

Related Topics:
Trinidad Theatre Workshop - Epistemological - Ontological - Economical - Political - Social

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In his 1970 essay on art (and specifically theatre) in his native region, What the Twilight Says: An Overture (published in Dream on Monkey Mountain and Other Plays; see bibliography), Walcott bemoans the lasting effects of over 400 years of colonial rule. He reflects on the West Indies as colonized space, and the problems presented by a region with little in the way of truly indigenous forms, and with little national or nationalist identity. He states: ?...we are all strangers here (10). Our bodies think in one language and move in another...?(31).

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Discussions of epistemological effects of colonization present themselves in plays such as Ti-Jean and his Brothers. One of the eponymous brothers (Mi-Jean) is shown to have much information, but to truly know nothing. Every line Mi-Jean recites is rote knowledge gained from the colonizer, and as such is unable to be synthesized and thus is inapplicable to his existence as colonized person.

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The plays weave together a variety of forms; including those of the folktale, morality play, allegory, fable, ritual and myth; as well as using emblematic and mythological characters to address issues in non-realistic ways.

Related Topics:
Folktale - Morality play - Allegory - Fable - Ritual - Myth

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