Derek Walcott, the Journeyman Years, Volume 2: Performing Arts: Occasional Prose 1957-1974 (Cross/Cultures - Readings in Post/Colonial Literatures and Cultures in English, 172)

During the same period in which Derek Walcott was pouring immense physical, emotional, and logistical resources into the foundation of a viable first-rate West Indian theatre company and continuing to write his inimitable poetry, he was also busy writing newspaper reviews, chiefly for the Trinidad Guardian . His prodigious reviewing activity extended far beyond those areas with which one might most readily associate his interests and convictions. As Gordon Rohlehr once presciently observed, "If one wants to see a quotidian workaday Walcott, one should go back to [his] well over five hundred articles, essays and reviews on painting, cinema, calypso, carnival, drama and lite¬rature," articles which "reveal a rich, various, witty and scrupulous intelligence in which generous humour counterpoints acerbity." These articles capture the vitality of Caribbean culture and shed additional light on the aesthetic preoccupations expressed in Walcott's essays published in journals. The editors have examined the corpus of Walcott's journalistic activity from its beginnings in 1950 to its peak in the early 1970s, and have made a generous selection of material from the Guardian , along with occasional pieces from such sources as Public Opinion (Kingston) and The Voice of St. Lucia (Castries). The articles in Volume 2 are organized as follows: the performing arts; general surveys of anglophone Caribbean drama, theatre, and society; festivals, theatre companies, and productions; British and American drama; dance and music theatre; Carnival and calypso; and cinema screenings in Trinidad. Volume 2 additionally contains an exhaustive annotated and cross-referenced chronological bibliography of Walcott's journalism up to 1990. The co-editor Christopher Balme has written a searching introductory essay on a central theme - here, a survey of West Indian theatre and Walcott's engagement with it, particularly the idea of a 'National Theatre', coupled with an illustrative discussion of the playwright's seminal dramatic spectacle Drums and Colours . During The Same Period In Which Derek Walcott Was Pouring Immense Physical, Emotional, And Logistical Resources Into The Foundation Of A Viable First-rate West Indian Theatre Company And Continuing To Write His Inimitable Poetry, He Was Also Busy Writing Newspaper Reviews, Chiefly For The Trinidad Guardian. His Prodigious Reviewing Activity Extended Far Beyond Those Areas With Which One Might Most Readily Associate His Interests And Convictions. As Gordon Rohlehr Once Presciently Observed, If One Wants To See A Quotidian Workaday Walcott, One Should Go Back To [his] Well Over Five Hundred Articles, Essays And Reviews On Painting, Cinema, Calypso, Carnival, Drama And Literature, Articles Which Reveal A Rich, Various, Witty And Scrupulous Intelligence In Which Generous Humour Counterpoints Acerbity. These Articles Capture The Vitality Of Caribbean Culture And Shed Additional Light On The Aesthetic Preoccupations Expressed In Walcott's Essays Published In Journals. Volume 1. Culture, Society, Literature, And Art -- Volume 2. Performing Arts. Edited By Gordon Collier. Volume 2 Edited By Christopher Balme And Gordon Collier. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Acknowledgements 7 Introduction: Derek Walcott and the Search for a Caribbean National Theatre 8 1 Anglophone Caribbean Drama, Theatre, and Society 30 Prologue 30 Call for a National Theatre 33 2 Emergence of Anglophone Caribbean Drama 71 3 Festivals, Companies, and Productions 137 Festivals 137 Federal Theatre Company 151 Repertory Players 157 Company of Players 161 Phoenix Players 173 Trinidad Dramatic Club (TDC) 184 Guild Players 199 Strolling Players 203 Rosary Players 206 Trinidad Theatre Workshop 208 4 British and American Drama 238 5 Dance and Music Theatre 252 Dance 252 Musical and Light Opera 277 6 Carnival and Calypso 295 Carnival 295 Calypso and Steelband 313 7 Miscellaneous 350 8 Cinema: Screenings in Trinidad 368 9 The Local Press on Walcott’s Drama 463 Chronological Indexed Listing 488 Index 526 The main focus of this book will be on two aspects of the national-theatre concept. The first part will examine the idea of federation as manifested in Derek Walcott’s play Drums and Colours (1958), a work specially commissioned for the foundation of the West Indian federation. The second part will look at the public debate that raged in the 1960s between two competing models for a national theatre: an ensemble-based art theatre advocated by Walcott; and an aestheticized version of carnival, the premier cultural event of Trinidad. As ultimately neither version was implemented, the final section will discuss some of the aporias inherent in the concept in postcolonial societies.