Customer Reviews

Walker and The Ghost Dance: Plays

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I took note of the name of Derek Walcott when he won the Nobel Prize for Literature some years back. I'm not one for poetry so I didn't go out looking for any of his books. However, while in his home island of St Lucia in the Carribean, I came across this book comprising two of his plays. The first, "Walker", was the story of a free Black man in Boston circa 1830. He is in the process of printing a pamphlet that advocates an uprising of slaves. Others try to change his mind and we get the gist of the man through these conversations. The message I got from the play is that violent methods leads to violent ends.

I got more out of the second play, "The Ghost Dance", in large part because I had coincidently just finished a book on the subject. That gave me an historical perspective that I didn't have of "Walker" (I had never heard of David Walker before). This play has a variety of characters that interact in a manner that bring insight to cultural conflicts. There are a number of relationships that fail, fall apart, or remain in unresolvable conflict. I appreciated the way the character and situations were woven together. I also appreciated that it all took place in my home state of North Dakota. It was a good, but not great, play. I couldn't help but notice Mr. Walcott's periodic use of metered rhyme in some of his dialogue. I guess it comes naturally for him. I'm glad I read these two plays but I won't be going out of my way to find more of his work. On the other hand, I WOULD like to return to St. Lucia.