''Beef, No Chicken'' is a two-act play by Caribbean playwright

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...

. The play is set in the town of Couva, in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. It follows restaurant owner Otto Hogan, whose refusal to accept graft delays the building of a highway through the centre of the town. The play is a

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

which satirises the Americanisation of the Caribbean.

Synopsis

Act I

''Beef, No Chicken'' opens as Otto rushes into his

roti Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is popular in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trinid ...

restaurant, removing a dress. It is soon revealed that he wears the dress in an attempt to create a folk legend about a spirit called "The Mysterious Stranger" haunting the construction of a highway though Couva. The chef employed by his restaurant, Sumintra, quits because Otto cannot pay her after his refusal to serve the construction crews working on the highway. Cedric Hart, an anchor on the local news, crashes his van into a ditch outside Otto's restaurant while doing a story on "The Mysterious Stranger." Otto's starstruck niece Drusilla leaves with Cedric. Euphony convinces the schoolmaster Eldridge Franco to play the role of the "Mysterious Stranger" as the guard dogs have caught on to Otto's scent. He escapes, but loses Euphony's hat at the construction site. The two bandits attempt to rob Euphony, but she dissuades them by telling them of fifteen thousand dollars in an unguarded payroll truck meant for workers on the highway. The mayor and the other members of the borough council unsuccessfully attempt to bribe Otto and the act ends with the unexpected return of a long lost fiancé of Euphony named Cardiff Joe from Wales.

Act II

In the second act, Cardiff Joe and Euphony plan a date for their wedding. Cedric returns to film a commercial for Otto's restaurant. Cardiff Joe makes an anonymous bomb threat against the highway on the same day as his wedding to Euphony. The mayor uses the hat implicating Euphony as "The Mysterious Stranger" to force Otto into allowing the highway. The play ends with Franco and Sumintra joining Cedric and Drusilla on a live broadcast of the six o clock news.

Characters

* Otto Hogan, owner of a restaurant and auto repair shop * Sumintra Ramsingh, chef * Euphony Hogan, Otto's sister * The Limer, an idler who does odd jobs around Couva * Eldridge Franco, schoolmaster * Drusilla Douglas, Otto's niece * Cedric Hart, local news presenter * Hernando Cadiz, the corrupt mayor of Couva * Mitzi Almandoz, a widow, secretary of the borough council * Mr. Mongroo, member of the borough council * Mr. Lai Fook, member of the borough council * Cardiff Joe, also known as Alwyn Davies, long lost seaman * The Deacon, itinerant preacher * First Bandit * Second Bandit

Productions

''Beef, No Chicken'' was first produced April 30, 1981 by the

Trinidad Theatre Workshop Trinidad Theatre Workshop was founded in 1959, by 1992 Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, with his twin brother Roderick Walcott and performers including Beryl McBurnie, Errol Jones and Stanley Marshall, and started at the Little Carib Theatre before ...

. The production was staged at the

Little Carib Theatre The Little Carib Theatre (LCT) was established in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1947 by Beryl McBurnie "to showcase the vibrant and rich culture of the Trinbagonian people". The first permanent folk-dance company and theatre in Trinidad, ...

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

and directed by Cecil Gray. It was produced by

Yale Repertory Theatre Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented student ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

during Winterfest II beginning in January 1982. The original production included Theresa Awai as Sumintra, Errol Jones as Otto, and Stanley Marshall as Eldridge. The Yale Repertory Theatre cast included Norman Matlock as Otto, Angela Basset as Drusilla,

Barbara Montgomery Barbara Montgomery (born June 25, 1939) is an American stage, television and film actress, and theatrical and film director. She is best known for her performance in ''Amen'' (1986-1990). Career Born in Queens, Montgomery began her career on the ...

as Euphony,

Sullivan Walker Sullivan Walker (20 November 1946 – 20 February 2012) was a Trinidadian actor who played numerous small and recurring roles on television shows from 1980 until 2005. Walker migrated to New York from Trinidad and Tobago in 1969 and became a ...

as The Limer,

Charles S. Dutton Charles Stanley Dutton (born January 30, 1951) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his roles in the television series ''Roc (TV series), Roc'' (1991–1994) and the television film ''The Piano Lesson (film), The Piano Lesson'' ...

as Mr. Mongroo, and Gilbert Lewis as Cardiff Joe.

Themes

According to Helen Gilbert and Joanne Tompkins, ''Beef, No Chicken'' is a critique of neocolonialism and neoimperialism in which Mangroo serves as a stand-in for American multinational corporations.

References

{{Derek Walcott Plays 1981 plays Plays by Derek Walcott