Dream on Monkey Mountain
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''Dream on Monkey Mountain'' is a play by the
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
-winning St. Lucian poet and 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 ...
. 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 The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
in 1970. Produced
off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
by the
Negro Ensemble Company The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) is a New York City-based theater company and workshop established in 1967 by playwright Douglas Turner Ward, producer-actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald S. Krone, with funding from the Ford Foundation. ...
in 1971, it won an
Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
that year for "Best Foreign Play". In a review of the Negro Ensemble production in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
,'' the journalist
Edith Oliver Edith Oliver (August 9, 1913 – February 23, 1998) was an American theater and film critic who contributed to ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1947 to 1993. Before that, she wrote several radio quiz shows, including '' Take It or Leave It: the $64 ...
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. The plot centers on the black Makak, who despises himself for being black. After being imprisoned for destroying things in a local market, he has a vision in jail of a white goddess, who pushes him to return to Africa. In his dream, Makak dreams of becoming a great warrior in Africa, convincing others to join him, and receiving support from the Ku Klux Klan. Finally, he beheads the white goddess of his dreams, and wakes up free from his obsession with whiteness. Reconciled to his actual life, Makak begins calling himself by his real name (Felix Hobain) and resolves to return home to Monkey Mountain.


Characters

Tigre, a felon. Souris, a felon. Corporal Lestrade, a mulatto policeman. Makak, a charcoal burner. Apparition, who represents at different points the moon, a muse, and a white woman or goddess. The apparition is a dancer who does not speak. Moustique, a friend of Makak. Basil, a cabinet-maker dressed like Baron Samedi, who represents death at certain points. Pamphilion, a market inspector. A Dancer, also Narrator. Little Bearers. Sisters of the Revelation. Market Women, who are transfigured into Makak's wives during his dream. Warriors, Demons. There is also a singer, a male chorus, and two drummers.


Synopsis

After a short epigraph (a quote by Martinican post-colonial political philosopher Franz Fanon), the play opens with a chorus singing a call-and-response while dancers cross the stage. Two jail cells appear. One holds Tigre and Souris, black men in jail for thievery, and the other is empty. The biracial Corporal Lestrade appears, dragging Makak, an older black man, whom he throws into the empty cell. Lestrade argues with the other prisoners, whom he views as animals, and then hosts an improvised trial. Makak, tired and confused, just wants to return to his home on Monkey Mountain. He claims an apparition of a white woman inspired him. Makak dreams of a time before his arrest. His friend Moustique finds Makak on the ground outside his house, recovering from a fit. Moustique encourages Makak to come to the market, where they will sell the coal Makak has produced. Makak remembers a dream in which the apparition of a white woman told him to go back to Africa. Makak announces his desire to do so. On a country road, Moustique finds a group of people gathered around a sick man. They light hot coals beneath him, hoping to sweat out the illness caused by a snakebite. Moustique offers to fetch his friend, a healer, in exchange for bread and money. The people accept, and Moustique returns with Makak, who performs a healing ceremony. The people are so grateful that they shower Moustique with gifts. Moustique wants to use Makak’s healing power for financial gain, but Makak refuses. They head toward the market. At the market, Lestrade and an Inspector survey the scene. Rumors of a powerful healer have preceded them. Moustique appears, dressed as Makak, and puts on a show as a healer. When his identity is uncovered, the crowd surrounds him and beats him mercilessly as Lestrade watches. Makak arrives and runs to his stricken friend, but Moustique dies of his injuries, passing away in Makak’s arms. Makak falls to the ground in a fit. After another short epigraph by Franz Fanon, Makak wakes up in a jail cell again. Lestrade wakes him, along with Tigre and Souris, who notice that Makak has money and decide to rob him. They convince Makak to kill Lestrade, and Makak agrees. He feigns illness and then, using a hidden dagger, stabs Lestrade. Makak releases his fellow prisoners, and they escape into the forest. Lestrade recovers—his wound is only minor—and gives chase. In the forest, Makak’s behavior becomes erratic. He promises to take Tigre and Souris to Africa and make them generals. Makak leads the others into hiding when they hear Lestrade approach. Becoming increasingly distraught, Lestrade repents his sins and joins Makak’s quest. Makak has also convinced Souris, who now also wishes to go to Africa with him. Only Tigre refuses when given the chance to accompany them. In response, Lestrade stabs Tigre. The others leave for Africa, where the Corporal announces that he will enforce the law on behalf of Makak. A crowd carries Makak into an African court as a conquering king. Lestrade leads the calls for praise, and the crowd responds jubilantly, but Makak is not happy: He sees himself as a hollow ghost of his old self. Lestrade calls prisoners before the king. The first is a list of historical white people, many of whom are already dead. They are condemned for being white and written out of history as punishment. Next, Moustique is dragged before the court and accused of betraying Makak’s dream. Though he pleads with Makak, claiming that Makak has grown mad, old, and blind as king, Makak looks away. Moustique is taken away to be executed. Finally, the apparition of the white woman is brought forth. Lestrade demands her execution as she is a temptation. He hands Makak a sword. Makak insists on privacy, and, when everyone leaves, he executes the apparition. In the Epilogue, the dream has ended, and Makak is once again in his jail cell. This time, when Lestrade asks him his name, he answers that he is Felix Hobain. He accepts his identity and, when Moustique arrives, Makak and Moustique return happily to Monkey Mountain.


References

{{Italic title Plays by Derek Walcott 1970 plays Obie Award-winning plays