From
PANTOMIME
By Derek Walcott
Pantomime was first performed in London at the Keskidee Arts Centre in 1978, directed by Henry Mutto, with the following cast: Lloyd Anderson (Jackson Philip) and Eric Richard (Harry Trewe). The play was later produced by Michael Fredericks at the Grove Theatre in Hammersmith, directed by Yvonne Brewster in 1985, who directed the play again in 1997 with the support of the Welsh Arts Council which toured to all the major cities in Wales. The latest production of Pantomime was initiated through Carib Theatre, directed by Yvonne Brewster, and the tour included performances at the Old Red Lion, Islington, as well as many theatres in south-east England and Europe.
Pantomime is a satire in which two expatriates, Trinidadian Jackson Phillip and Englishman Harry Trewe explore the idea of a role reversal re-interpretation of the Robinson Crusoe story for the hotel’s entertainment. Set in a broken-down guesthouse on the Island of Tobago during a temporary closure for maintenance repairs, hotel manager Harry Trewe hopes to overcome his boredom by producing a play in anticipation of the hotel re-opening. Harry convinces his only employee Jackson (a waiter at the hotel) to partake in an improvised race-reversal version of the Robinson Crusoe story; Harry nominates himself to play Friday, a black cannibal, while Jackson takes on the lead role of Robinson Crusoe, an educated shipwrecked Englishman, for added humour. During the rehearsal process, Harry begins to realise that his intention of creating a light-humoured pantomime is not achievable with the story he has chosen. Instead the rehearsal process triggers a heightened sensitivity to racism and authority which creates many heated moments between Harry and Jackson and several attempts to walk out of the play. Acting the role of Friday and Crusoe causes unresolved issues from the past to resurface, and for the first time in years, Harry talks about his dead son, alcoholic ex-wife and Jackson talks about his reason for escaping the rough streets of Trinidad. Slowly, their production of Robinson Crusoe becomes a catalyst for providing them with closure and resolution.
About the Playwright
Internationally acclaimed playwright, poet and professor, Derek Alton Walcott OBE was born in Castries, Saint Lucia, in the Caribbean in 1930. Derek Walcott moved to Jamaica to gain a Bachelor of Arts Degree at the University of the West Indies. He then moved to Trinidad in 1953 where he pursued a writing career. His first introduction to writing was through poetry; at the age of eighteen he self-published 25 poems which was subsequently followed by his renowned collection of poems entitled In a Green Night (1962). In 1959, he founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop which produced many of his early plays. Derek Walcott received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 as well as being awarded numerous accolades for his stage plays throughout his career.
Other published plays by Derek Walcott include: Dream on a Monkey Mountain, Six in the Rain, Ti-Jean and his Brothers, Six in the Rain, O Babylon, Remembrance, The Joker of Seville, Last Carnival, Beef, No Chicken, A Branch of the Blue Nile and Odyssey.
Summary (Extract)
Trinidadian JACKSON PHILLIP, a retired calypsonian aged forty, starts to generate ideas for their improvised version of the Robinson Crusoe production. Taking the position of the director, Jackson requires Harry (Mr Trewe) to act like a bird which Harry finds too humiliating. Harry begins to feel uncomfortable with the role reversal and wants to return to reality, he as the manager and Jackson as the waiter. When Jackson refuses, he goes one step further and threatens Jackson with his job. But Jackson is keen to finish what he has started.
May I say what I think, Mr. Trewe? I think it’s a matter of prejudice. I think that you cannot believe: one: that I can act, and two: that any black man should play Robinson Crusoe. A little while aback, I came out here quite calmly and normally with the breakfast things and I find you almost stark naked, kneeling down, and you told me you were getting into your part. Here am I getting into my part and you object. This is the story…this is history. This moment that we are now acting here is the history of Imperialism; it’s nothing less than that. And I don’t think that I can – should – concede my getting into a part halfway and abandoning things, just because you, as my superior, give me orders. People become independent. Now, I could go down to that beach by myself with this hat, and I could play Robinson Crusoe, I could play Columbus, I could play Sir Francis Drake, I could play anybody discovering anywhere, but I don’t want you to tell me when and where to draw the line!
(Pause.)
Or what to discover and when to discover it. All right?