A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Pantomime

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  2m

A fast-paced comedy set in Tobago. In the hope of entertaining future guests, an English hotel owner proposes that he and his black handyman work up a satire on the Robinson Crusoe story.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2m
  • Duration
    Duration
    75 Minutes
  • Suggested Use
    • Scene work
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary

A fast-paced comedy set in Tobago. In the hope of entertaining future guests, an English hotel owner proposes that he and his Black handyman work up a satire on the Robinson Crusoe story. This metatheatrical two-hander dissects the effects of colonialism, examining the way that British imperial policies create fateful cultural links forever. Joy and dark humor abound as the hotel owner and handyman explore who is allowed to use language and in what way. 

The playwright was a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

NOTICE: Please be advised, this title is from the Samuel French Vault and is made from a scan of an archived manuscript. We hope you’ll treasure this glimpse into theatre history.

History
The play was produced by BBC Radio and London's Keskidee Theatre in 1979.

Harry Trewe
Jackson Philip

  • Time Period 1970s
  • Setting A guest house on Tobago.
  • Additional Features Mime, Physical Comedy, Stage Combat
  • Duration 75 Minutes
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Media

"The lines are fluid, the interchanges bristle with intelligence." - The New York Times

"A brilliantly extended set of variations on the master-and-servant relationship." - The Times, London

"Gentle wit, immaculately placed irony." - New Statesman

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

Scripts

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Authors

Derek Walcott

Derek Walcott was born in 1930 in the town of Castries in Saint Lucia, one of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles. The experience of growing up on the isolated volcanic island, an ex-British colony, has had a strong influence on Walcott’s life and work. Both his grand ...

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