User:Crmaurik/Derek Walcott

Pantomime is a post-colonial play by Saint Lucian writer Derek Walcott written in 1978. The play features two characters: Englishman and former actor-turned-resort owner, Harry Trewe, and Jackson Phillip, a Trinidadian employee of the resort. The play is set in the resort that is closed for repairs in either a summerhouse or gazebo. Harry proposes staging a pantomime adaptation of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe for the guests upon reopening that will feature Jackson in the leading role of Crusoe and Harry portraying Friday, but Jackson is adamant about not being made into an entertainer. Pantomime explores many themes such as metatheatricality and Caribbean race relations. It takes musical inspiration from the music hall and Calypso genres.

Characters
Harry Trewe: Former English music hall actor. Now retired and runs a hotel resort in Tobago.

Jackson Phillip: Trinidadian employee of the resort and retired Calypsonian performer.

Act I
The play opens with resort owner, Harry Trewe, rehearsing a song and dance for a pantomime presentation of Robinson Crusoe before his Trinidadian employee, Jackson Phillips, arrives with his breakfast. Harry is reluctant to stop rehearsing in order to eat, but Jackson attempts to remind him that he should be focusing on the repairs being made to the resort rather than staging a pantomime. After a playful instance where Harry pretends to jump from a ledge, Harry eventually reveals that thinking about the pantomime has caused him to suffer from insomnia because he has promised his guests nightly entertainment and considers this a promise he must fulfill.

When offered, Jackson refuses a part in the pantomime because he no longer wants to perform. Jackson makes an attempt to redirect the conversation by reporting a parrot kept at the resort who repeats racial slurs that Harry suggests using as a prop. Harry is determined to convince Jackson to be a part of the pantomime, and suggests reversing the roles: Jackson would portray Robinson Crusoe, and Harry would play the role of the cannibal Friday. Harry proceeds to strip to understand what it would feel like to play Friday and Jackson must talk him out of the act and into putting his clothes back on. Harry explains his ideas about what it would take to put on this pantomime by attempting to appeal to the Calypsonian performer Jackson used to be.

The two proceed to improvise in character with Jackson portraying an animated and violent character who speaks in an invented language, and Jackson eventually agrees to proceed with the pantomime. After singing an improvised song that Harry sees potential in, Jackson tries reversing their roles as Harry initially suggested. This reversal offends and humiliates Harry when Jackson asks Harry to play the role of a sea bird by flapping his arms and making bird noises. The two proceed to fight again because Jackson sees Harry’s refusal of this interpretation as a matter of racial prejudice and British imperialism. Harry straightens an overturned table the two were using as a prop before Jackson finally asks him not to touch anything and Harry complies.

Act II
Act II opens with Harry reading in a deck chair and Jackson noisily repairing the sun deck with a hammer. Harry makes a comment about the excessive noise Jackson is producing, but it continues with Jackson singing a song that likens their current positioning to that of Robinson Crusoe and Friday. Once the repairs are finished, Harry sends Jackson to go fetch beer and scotch, and Harry suggests the two work out their differences over the drinks. Harry confesses the isolation he feels in Tobago is making him crazy and Jackson suggests if he feels that way he could always return to England, however this idea is not the solution as Harry quit the theatre and put all his savings into the resort after losing his wife and son.

Jackson resolves to make Harry “a brand-new man” and considers it a challenge to counsel him through his loneliness and overcautiousness. The pair continue working through their adaptation of Robinson Crusoe. Jackson explains that in order to play their reverse roles, they do not need to fake their actions, but rather exaggerate, as Jackson does not perceive Harry to be capable of giving orders, and Jackson does not like following them. Furthermore, they must not act as “boss-and-Jackson,” but as equals. Finally, Harry must not focus on the family he left behind to come to the resort and instead focus on the things Crusoe would concern himself with.

Harry gives Jackson a piece of paper on which he has drafted a speech to include in the play. After reading it with some mispronunciations, Jackson determines it is a good section of dialogue, but criticizes the lack of mention of goats as that would be the thoughts with which Crusoe would concern himself: he would build shelter and obtain food and material for clothing and other practical uses by killing a goat. The two argue over their interpretations of Robinson Crusoe’s characterization until Jackson interrupts because he needs to pee. Their argument shifts to how long the break should take with Jackson insisting five minutes and Harry limiting it to three so they can continue to work on the pantomime. Harry offers the use of his own bathroom which is closer than the one for staff, but Jackson adamantly refuses citing a history of racially segregated bathrooms.

While Jackson is gone, Harry rearranges the furniture on the sundeck to set a scene, takes his shirt off and pours water over his head, drives an icepick into the table, and crawls beneath the table. Jackson reenters to question him, but Harry only comes out from under the overturned table when he leaves again. When Jackson reenters, he is dressed as Crusoe and throws a box at Harry’s feet which contains the parrot he had complained about earlier, now dead. Harry throws the bird into the sea and insults Jackson who then returned to the role of Friday in response. Harry counters by reprising the role of a bird, this time the parrot. The pair insult each other before calming down and having a drink of Scotch which Harry toasts to his ex-wife who, as Jackson points out, is not there with the two of them as she is back in England.

Jackson briefly leaves and returns with a photograph of Harry’s ex-wife. He asks Harry to talk to the picture instead of behind his ex-wife’s back and ventriloquizes a feminine voice for the image. This forces Harry to let his feelings out as Jackson continues to push him; Harry reveals that he is envious of his ex-wife’s success as an actress, accuses her of killing their son, and admits that the reason he wanted to do the pantomime is to do a better rendition of Robinson Crusoe than his ex-wife who had played the part previously. Afterward, Harry appears depressed, and Jackson must talk him into continuing their rehearsal. Harry recites a speech and breaks down crying leaving Jackson to wonder if he is really crying or just acting. Harry insists he is acting which leads to the two men laughing as Harry demonstrates that it is difficult to determine the difference between crying, acting, and laughing. After some additional joking, Jackson finally agrees with Harry’s original insistence that he return to his calling: acting. The play ends with the pair agreeing to work as a team and Jackson comically asking for a raise.

Premiere Production (1978)
Directed by Albert LeVeau, Pantomime premiered at Little Carib Theatre in Port of Spain in April of 1978. Maurice Brash played the role of Harry Trewe opposite Wilbert Holder in the role of Jackson Phillip.

Arena Stage (1981)
For its 30th Anniversary season, Pantomime was a featured performance at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., directed by Martin Fried and produced by Zelda Finchandler and executive director Thomas C. Finchandler. The part of Harry was played by Richard Bauer, and Avery Brooks acted in the role of Jackson Phillips. This production featured setting by Karl Eigsti, costumes by Mary Ann Powell, lighting by William Minter, and technical direction by Henry R. Gorfein.

Off-Off Broadway (1987)
Directed by Kay Matschullat, Pantomime played Off-Off Broadway at the Hudson Guild Theatre. Actor Edmund Genest played the role of Harry Trewe. Actor Charles S. Dutton played the role of Jackson Phillip. This production featured setting designed by Rosario Provenza, lighting by Robert Wierzel, and costumes by Pamela Patterson. Vaudeville elements were staged by Edward Love, and this production featured the musical direction of Deborah R. Lapidus.

Chicago (1993)
Directed by Jonathan Wilson, Pantomime played during the 1992-1993 season at the Court Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. This production stared Darryl Croxton in the role of Jackson Phillip and Greg Vinkler in the role of Harry Trewe. It featured set design and lighting by Michael S. Philippi, costume design by Jeff Bauer, and sound and music by Joe Cerqua.

University of Essex (2012)
Playwright Derek Walcott directed his own stage performance of his play Pantomime for the University of Essex in May of 2012. The lead roles were played by Wendell Manwarren and David Tarkenter. The entire performance can be viewed on the University of Essex's YouTube channel as of October 4, 2012.

Pantomime Acting
The term "pantomime" refers to a type of musical comedy that is usually performed for family-friendly plays and other forms of entertainment. This is usually only performed by one or two people, who play multiple characters historically by cross-dressing. These cross-gendered roles can either be played by a female or male, depending on who got cast for the role itself in the performance. It adapted from commedia dell'arte performances in the early 18th century due to its repeatable formula. Pantomime performances often feature exaggerated physical and facial gestures either by using props or miming, or feature moments of tableau.

Calypso Music
Calypso is a type of music that is often presented in pantomime and African-Caribbean performances. This type of music was created in Trinidad, and later spread to other Caribbean and South American colonies. This music has European and African cultural influences. Before 1834, Caribbean slaves were not allowed to speak to peers, but found that they could communicate through song. Calypso demonstrates very high or harmonic vocals with a certain rhyme scheme that the singers follow to get a tune or message across to their audience. A lot of the themes of Calypso music would be the daily struggles and triumphs that were experienced in Trinidad and Tobago. This would include, ecological struggles, social order, inequalities and those who were living on the island in poverty.

Dark Comedy
Pantomime falls into the tragicomedy genre due to its ability to navigate a reality built on colonialism and imperialism in Trinidad and Tobago with humour. The humour of the play is fueled through the colonial aspect of Harry being able to switch between different roles without consequence, such as him portraying Friday and Crusoe when he becomes bored at the resort, while Jackson openly criticizes Harry's acting. Their conflict between roles, instigated by Harry, reflects a form of metatheatre that Walcott has become recognised for through Pantomime, as well as links Pantomime to the oral traditions of African cultures that are forms of theatrical storytelling. Traditionally in African cultures, stories are told with the aid of idioms, and a play of language that Jackson exudes.

Master-Slave Dynamics & Caribbean Race Relations
The metatheatrical performance forms a critique of colonialism as the narrative of the play delves further into Harry’s control of the situation despite being a foreigner, and Jackson’s forced role as being an employee and having to put up with Harry’s antics. Jackson refutes Harry's acts of metatheatre by switching between English and Creole accents in a satirical and theatrical manner that Walcott makes apparent through the stage direction. The time and manner when Jackson changes accents depends on Harry's actions, such as in the beginning of Act 1 when Jackson is serving Harry breakfast, he switches between English and Creole knowing that his Creole accent is more likely to catch Harry's attention than his English accent.

Critical Reception
Derek Walcott’s Pantomime has been performed in a variety of locations in North America, Europe and the Caribbean, usually in moderate sizes theatres, ranging from roughly 40-500 seat capacities. Walcott has written more than 20 plays, but he is typically more well known for his poetry.

On May 30, 1981, Frank Rich of the New York Times, reviewed a Washington performance of Walcott’s Pantomime. He states that Walcott is best known for his poetry and “that judgment remains unaltered by ‘Pantomime’. Rich says there is potential for the play, if it were to be polished and refined, since the minute success of the first half of the play was severely impacted by the Act II losing the grip of all narrative. While he values the significant subject matter, postcolonialism in the Caribbean, Rich claims that, disappointingly, all of the political messages and witty lines, the satirical comparisons and other efforts from Walcott, were all lost in the play, appearing as afterthoughts. This review claims that Director Martin Fried showed hardly any enthusiasm in his production, however the setting was well designed by Karl Eigsti. Overall, just as Jackson accuses Harry in the play, Rich states that Walcott too, “make(s) a molehill out of a mountain” with his disappointing promise of a play.

Chris Jones, theatre critic from Chicago Tribune, writes on September 16, 2006 about a Chicago performance, taking place at Truman College. Jones writes that the racial themes of Walcott’s Pantomime are still relevant today. However, Jones says that the power dynamics of the two main characters Harry Trewe and Jackson Phillips were unbalanced. Trewe was played as a meek and pathetic character, while Jackson was too sure-minded and powerful in comparison. Overall, the important messages of the play were far overshadowed by the dramatics of it, the symbols were much too forceful, it was unclear if the setting was in the present or being played in period, and lastly, the actors drowned in the sizeable stage and could have benefited from a more intimate setting.

On April 29, 1993 Adam Langer of the Chicago Reader, reviewed a Court Theatre performance of the play Pantomime. Langer states that Pantomime offers a critique of the West Indies’ history of racism, and the play is a slow-burn, unravelling of ongoing and silent resentment. He claims that the intensity of the play is something that is so rarely seen in Chicago theatre, and that Walcott is expert in encouraging the audience to mull over such thought-provoking themes, "without ever losing his sense of humor or becoming too didactic".

The overall reception of Derek Walcott's Pantomime then, is full of mixed reviews. Varying critics (such as Rich and Jones) are disappointed in the dramatics of the play, which they claim overshadow the important cultural content of Caribbean postcolonialism and the literary elements were too intense, leaving little to the imagination for audiences. Langer on the other hand, writes that the play offered a rare level of intensity, while successfully and with humour, prompted the audience to consider complicated social issues.

Literary Allusions
Pantomime by Derek Walcott is considered to be inspired by Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe. Walcott's metatheatrical play Pantomime, shows the two main characters Harry Trewe and Jackson Phillip enacting a racial role-reversal of characters in Robinson Crusoe. Within Pantomime, Trewe's character believes that it would be humourous to their audience if he and Jackson swapped the stereotypical racial roles of Robinson Crusoe (as a white colonial, settler) and Friday (Crusoe's servant). By having Jackson, a black man who works for Trewe, play a white settler who orders Friday around, the audience can see how Walcott is presenting a subversion of stereotypical, racist connotations; as well viewers can see that his play works to show the complications between racism, racial hierarchies, colonial, and postcolonial encounters, specifically in the Caribbean.

As well, there are explicit references to Samuel T. Coleridge's poem "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". Harry Trewe quotes and performs numerous lines from the text and Jackson brings attention to that. When Jackson indicates this to Harry, he mispronounces the term 'mariner' as 'marina', which is unclear to the audience if this is an intentional and joking mispronunciation, or whether he only partially understands the reference to the text.