Language Follows Evolution of Jackson and Trewe Relationship Parallelin

Language Follows Evolution of Jackson and Trewe Relationship Paralleling the Colonization to Post-Colonial Movement in Pantomime The play opens on the edge of a cliff; anything can happen. Derek Walcott, a playwright from the Caribbean, lives his own life on the edge of a cliff. Walcott’s family placed strong emphasis on education and ancestry. His inherent duality, European and African, mirrors that of post-colonialism (Gilbert 131). It is this duality that Walcott tries to reconcile in his work, drawing on his experiences in the theatre and in the Caribbean (King 260). In Pantomime, Walcott employs the versatility of language to describe the evolving relationship between main characters Harry Trewe and Jackson Philip paralleling the colonization to post-colonial movement and comes to a tentative reconciliation. Walcott sets the stage for numerous parallelisms by naming his play Pantomime. A pantomime is a traditional British Christmas entertainment that features stock characters in costume who sing, dance and perform skits. The tradition dates back to the 16th century, stemming from Commedia dell’ Arte, which included farce-like elements and masquerade. Ironically, the general premise of a pantomime, the characters speak the same language but do not seem to understand each other, echoes that of Walcott’s Pantomime. Trewe’s pantomime is based on wordless storytelling versus Jackson’s background as a Calypsonian, which deals with improvisation of words based on a given topic. Also, Elaine Savory suggests that Walcott may have chosen this form because the two men feel most comfortable exploring life from behind a mask, like those one might find in a pantomime (227). Already, their background hinders their communication and ... ...he Caribbean. NY: State U of NY Press, 2000. Juneja, Renu. â€Å"Derek Walcott.† Post-Colonial English Drama: Commonwealth Drama Since 1960. Bruce King, ed. NY: St. Martin’s Press Inc., 1992. King, Bruce. Derek Walcott: A Caribbean Life. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Savory, Elaine. â€Å"Art and Macho Attitudes: The Case of Walcott.† Postcolonial Literatures: Achebe, Ngugi, Desai, Walcott. Michael Parker and Roger Starkey, eds. London: Macmillan Press LTD, 1995. Savory, Elaine. â€Å"Registering Connection: Masking and Gender Issues in Caribbean Theatre.† (Post)Colonial Stages: Critical & Creative Views on Drama, Theatre & Performance. Helen Gilbert, ed. UK: Dangaroo Press, 1999. Thieme, John. Derek Walcott, Contemporary World Writers. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1999. Walcott, Derek. â€Å"Pantomime.† Postcolonial Plays: An Anthology. Helen Gilbert, ed. NY: Routledge, 2001.