Roderick Walcott
| Roderick Walcott | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Roderick Aldon Walcott 23 January 1930 Castries, St Lucia |
| Died | 6 March 2000 (aged 70) Toronto, Canada |
| Nationality | St Lucian |
| Occupation | Playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, costume and set designer |
Roderick Aldon Walcott, OBE (23 January 1930 – 6 March 2000), was a St Lucian playwright, screenwriter, painter, theatre director, costume and set designer, lyricist and literary editor. As a dramatist he "has been recognised as one of the most committed figures in the effort to develop a distinctive Caribbean theatre in the region". He was the twin brother of Nobel laureate Derek Walcott.
Roderick Aldon Walcott was born in Castries, St Lucia, the son of Alix (Maarlin) and Warwick Walcott. He was educated at St Mary's College there. In 1950, he (together with his brother Derek and friends) was instrumental in founding the St Lucia Arts Guild, to read and perform plays. He wrote, produced and directed plays with the Arts Guild during the 1950s and 1960s, and is regarded as "one of the founders of modern Caribbean theatre", building and fostering a local homegrown audience.
In 1968, he moved to Canada where he studied Theatre Arts at York University in Toronto from 1969 to 1973. He returned temporarily to St Lucia in 1977 to become the first Director of Culture (1977–80).
He was the author of several plays, many of them published by the Extra-Mural Department of the University of the West Indies. His play The Harrowing of Benjy is the most produced play in the English-speaking Caribbean. He also wrote numerous musicals, of which The Banjo Man, a collaboration with the composer Charles Cadet, was successfully staged at Carifesta 1972 in Guyana and throughout the greater Caribbean. Walcott is also acknowledged as a pioneer of Carnival in St Lucia.
Roderick Walcott died at his home in Toronto, Canada, in 2000 at the age of 70, after a long illness. His death is a theme in his brother Derek's 2004 work The Prodigal.
In 2009, a collection of his works was donated to the University of the West Indies Open Campus in St Lucia.
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