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Derek Walcott and West Indian Drama

"Not Only a Playwright But a Company". The Trinidad Theatre Workshop 1959-1993

Bruce King author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:4th Sep '97

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Derek Walcott and West Indian Drama cover

Written at Derek Walcott's suggestion, and based on interviews with the playwright and actors, this is the first detailed study of a post-colonial theatre company and the problems of creating `serious' theatre in the former colonies. The book shows how Walcott strove to create a world class theatre ensemble in the West Indies - a Trinidadian Brecht Berliner ensemble - and traces his life and career in West Indian theatre, and the history of the Trinidad Theatre Workshop. Beginning with an actors' studio and the vision of a West Indian theatre company of international standards with its own style of acting, Derek Walcott developed the most important theatre company in the West Indies. This was the company which first performed his Dream on Monkey Mountain, the musical version of Ti-Jean and his Brothers, The Joker of Seville, and O Babylon! A major contribution to West Indian history and theatre, Bruce King's study reveals the heroic will of Derek Walcott and his actors, and their determination to prove that West Indian drama was a force with which to be reckoned.

The book is obviously the work of a meticulous fan. * Theatre Scotland *
the book is a mine of information...research for this book will be valued by thoughtful Caribbean theatre goers and theatre historians. * Sunday Guardian *
...pioneering book, which weaves theatre history and literary criticism together in a fresh and rewarding way * Caribbean Beat *
An important resource book... this is a very significant piece of work. The portrait of Walcott that emerges is complex and offers... fascinating insights into a great but often difficult man. In King, he has found a serious and careful chronicler, the court historian to the prince of Caribbean playwrights. * Elaine Savory, Research in African Literatures *
I imagine that Derek Walcott and West Indian Drama will prove an eye-opener to anyone who assumed that Caribbean theatre began and ended with Errol John's Moon on a Rainbow Shawl. Bruce King's book reveals just how wide of the mark they were. * London Magazine *
This book is not the "academic study" one might expect. It combines thoroughness of research, an acute sense of the writer's intentions, great literary flair, with a refreshing disrespect for whatever is considered "politically correct"...a superb achievement...Bruce King compells us to re-evaluate our vision and grant him more attention as a playwright...an enthusiastic tribute to the often heroic will of Walcott and his actors. * Afram Newsletter no 41 *
this is a detailed study of a post-colonial Caribbean theatre company and the problems of creating 'serious' theatre in the former colonies. - Communaute Francaise, centre belge de l'IIT
Substantial study ... Bruce King's account of the Workshop and the man is admirably clear and to the point. * Planet *
substantial study...this book is essentially the story of a very particular theatre company as it grew up and evolved over four tempestuous decades on Trinidad...Bruce King's account of the Workshop and the man is admirably clear and to the point...this is a superb book - scholarly, scrupulous, immensley detailed but also very readable...a major achievement. * Planet - the Welsh Internationalist *

ISBN: 9780198184645

Dimensions: 216mm x 139mm x 27mm

Weight: 551g

426 pages