Derek Walcott: A Caribbean ‘National Theatre’ vs. Neo-Colonialist Tourism

Abstract

This paper investigates a notion put forward by the first Nobel Laureate in Literature from the Caribbean region, Derek Walcott, of the establishment of a ‘national theatre’ as the foundation of British Caribbean islands’ theatrical arts, on the basis of an analysis of related newspaper articles from the early 1960s to 2013 as well as an interview conducted with Walcott by the author in January 2013.
Theatre and drama often function as viable cultural tools for regions seeking independence from colonial rule; and a theatre building can for its part function as a cultural foothold. The former British Caribbean islands, including Trinidad and Tobago and St. Lucia, are no exceptions, especially since the 1950s, when political as well as cultural movements against the British colonial rule gathered steam. While a number of remarkable theatrical movements began to rise after the end of the Second World War, also tourism grew rapidly into the main industry of the whole region, expanding out of this economic role to affect society, culture, and the arts. The undesirable influences of tourism on the development of the region’s theatre and drama have been constantly reported on by Walcott and other artists. For instance, governments tend to give priority to tourism in the national budget, and the theatrical and other arts suffer as a result. In this paper, first, tourism’s negative influence on the arts is investigated, and then Walcott’s long-held idea of an ideal national theatre as a cultural institution is explained, with a focus on how it can support theatre artists in the region and also play an important role in the cultural life of the nation as audiences become able to encounter good performances of local plays that address their concerns.