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Dream on Monkey Mountain
"Dream on Monkey Mountain" is a play by the Nobel Prize-winning St. Lucian poet and playwright Derek Walcott. It was first published in 1970 with a collection of short plays entitled "Dream on Monkey Mountain and Other Plays". It was produced and broadcast on NBC in 1970. Produced off-Broadway by the Negro Ensemble Company in 1971, it won an Obie Award that year for "Best Foreign Play."
In a review of the Negro Ensemble production in The New Yorker, the journalist Edith Oliver called the play "a masterpiece" and "a poem in dramatic form or a drama in poetry," noting that "poetry is rare in modern theater."Like most of Walcott's works, the play is set on a Caribbean island.
(Wikipedia)
In a review of the Negro Ensemble production in The New Yorker, the journalist Edith Oliver called the play "a masterpiece" and "a poem in dramatic form or a drama in poetry," noting that "poetry is rare in modern theater."Like most of Walcott's works, the play is set on a Caribbean island.
(Wikipedia)
Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1970
About the author
Derek Walcott
186 books513 followersDerek Walcott was a Caribbean poet, playwright, writer and visual artist. Born in Castries, St. Lucia, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 "for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity, sustained by a historical vision, the outcome of a multicultural commitment."
His work, which developed independently of the schools of magic realism emerging in both South America and Europe at around the time of his birth, is intensely related to the symbolism of myth and its relationship to culture. He was best known for his epic poem Omeros, a reworking of Homeric story and tradition into a journey around the Caribbean and beyond to the American West and London.
Walcott founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop in 1959, which has produced his plays (and others) since that time, and remained active with its Board of Directors until his death. He also founded Boston Playwrights' Theatre at Boston University in 1981. In 2004, Walcott was awarded the Anisfield-Wolf Lifetime Achievement Award, and had retired from teaching poetry and drama in the Creative Writing Department at Boston University by 2007. He continued to give readings and lectures throughout the world after retiring. He divided his time between his home in the Caribbean and New York City.
His work, which developed independently of the schools of magic realism emerging in both South America and Europe at around the time of his birth, is intensely related to the symbolism of myth and its relationship to culture. He was best known for his epic poem Omeros, a reworking of Homeric story and tradition into a journey around the Caribbean and beyond to the American West and London.
Walcott founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop in 1959, which has produced his plays (and others) since that time, and remained active with its Board of Directors until his death. He also founded Boston Playwrights' Theatre at Boston University in 1981. In 2004, Walcott was awarded the Anisfield-Wolf Lifetime Achievement Award, and had retired from teaching poetry and drama in the Creative Writing Department at Boston University by 2007. He continued to give readings and lectures throughout the world after retiring. He divided his time between his home in the Caribbean and New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 14, 2015
I read it two or three years ago...
I liked it as it gives a vivid glimpse of a foreign culture, focusing both on reality and dreams. The characters were fun and tragic at the same time, which was a combination that I fell for.
I would love to see it on stage, as the staging seemed very appropriate, as much as I remember it.
I liked it as it gives a vivid glimpse of a foreign culture, focusing both on reality and dreams. The characters were fun and tragic at the same time, which was a combination that I fell for.
I would love to see it on stage, as the staging seemed very appropriate, as much as I remember it.
April 18, 2024
*4.25*
December 12, 2023
“Attempting to escape. Attempting to escape. Attempting to escape from the prison of their lives. That's the most dangerous crime. It brings about revolution. So, off we go, lads!” [Drums. Exit chanting]
January 3, 2024
Did not expect it to be this good. Beautiful prose and very poetic.
October 28, 2024
had to read for college and class discussions definitely helped understand it, but I thought it was very confusing although interesting. short play as well.
May 20, 2025
مسرحية مملة أثرتها المدارس والمقالات النقدية التي دُرست معها
March 23, 2015
3.5 stars
A pleasurable experience of true Caribbean literature. Walcott's poetic, comfortable dialogues are a thing of beauty.
A pleasurable experience of true Caribbean literature. Walcott's poetic, comfortable dialogues are a thing of beauty.
October 11, 2016
I will comment after i read
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews