E. M. Roach
Eric Merton Roach was a Tobagonian poet and playwright. He published some early writing under the pseudonym Merton Maloney.
Life
Roach grew up in Mount Pleasant, Tobago:Between 1949 and 1955, his poetry was frequently broadcast on the BBC programme Caribbean Voices.
In 1960s, Roach began to gain an international reputation. However, he became overwhelmed and depressed, and committed suicide in 1974, drinking insecticide before swimming in the ocean.
Work
Plays
- Belle Fanto: A Medium-length Play in 3 Acts, 1967
- Letter from Leonora, 1968
- A Calabash of Blood , 1971
- ''New Dancers in the Dooryard''
Poems
- The Flowering Rock: Collected Poems 1938–1974, Peepal Tree Press, 1992
Plays: performance history
''Belle Fanto''
Trinidad and Tobago Secondary Schools Drama Festival- 1971: St. George's College directed by Slade Hopkinson.
- 1973: Palo Seco Government Secondary directed by B.T. Harry.
- 1982: Cowen Hamilton Secondary directed by Victor Edwards.
- 1988: San Fernando West Senior Comprehensive directed by Garvin McClean.
- 1989: Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive School directed by Cherryll Uzoruo.
- 1992: Aranguez Junior Secondary School directed by Susan Crichlow.
- 1993: Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive School directed by Cherryll Uzoruo.
- 1997: St. George's College directed by Rawle Carrington.
- 1999: Tranquillity Government Secondary directed by Karen Griffith.
- 2002: Cowen Hamilton Secondary School directed by Iezora Edwards.
The following theatre companies performed Belle Fanto:
- San Fernando Theatre Workshop, directed by James Lee Wah
- Trinidad Theatre Workshop, directed by Derek Walcott
- The Tobago Drama Guild, directed by Peter Wheeler Thabiti
''A Calabash of Blood''
- 2019: The University of the West Indies, Department of Creative and Festival Arts, directed by Neriah Alfred
- 2021: The Tobago Drama Guild, directed by Peter Wheeler Thabiti
- 2023: The Tobago Drama Guild, directed by Peter Wheeler Thabiti