''Drums and Colours: An Epic Drama'' is a play by

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 commissioned by the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

for the opening of the first (and only) opening session of the

Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation The Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation was the bicameral legislature in West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962. It was established as the legislative body in the intended federation of British Caribbean. One election was held, in 1 ...

on 23 April 1958, when the play was first performed in

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad 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 ...

, in an open-air production involving actors and personnel from other parts of the Caribbean as part of a regional arts festival to celebrate the new (and short-lived)

West Indies Federation The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that ...

. ''Drums and Colours'' was published in a special issue of ''Caribbean Quarterly'' in 1961.''Caribbean Quarterly'', vol. 7, Nos. 1–2, March-June 1961, 104 pp. See John Robert Lee (ed.)
''Bibliography of St. Lucian Creative Writing: Poetry, Prose, Drama by St. Lucia Writers, 1948–2013''
Castries, Saint Lucia: Cultural Development Foundation, 2013, p. 66.

References

Plays by Derek Walcott 1958 plays {{1950s-play-stub