Tears flowed yesterday at the funeral of theatre stalwart Margaret Walcott. The former chairman of Queen’s Hall died at her Santa Cruz home last week Wednesday after losing a long battle with cancer. She was 82. Walcott was the former wife of 1992 Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright Derek Walcott and played an integral part in the establishment of the Trinidad Theatre Workshop (TTW), which he founded in the 1960s.
The funeral was held at the Church of the Assumption, Long Circular Road, Maraval. At the beginning of the service, Derek Walcott was rolled down the aisle in a wheelchair, sometimes placing his hand over his face. Walcott’s grandchildren hugged and comforted one another while other members of the congregation were openly emotional. Artist Donald “Jackie” Hinkson, a family friend, read Derek Walcott’s 1981 poem, The Season of Phantasmal Peace.
Fr Garfield Rochard, who delivered the homily, told mourners Walcott showed appreciation for God’s creation and life as he intended. “She leaves us with a harmony and showed us what we can do to preserve the masterpiece of God’s activities. There are little things we can do to add to its significance.” Rochard said we lived in an age in which God’s masterpiece was threatened with the rape of the environment. “Man must stand up to protect his work... the birds of the air and the flowers of the field and continue to show their significance.
“Jesus in the Gospel reminds us of our need and who will provide. We forget his divine providence to take care of his work and place ourselves in the framework,” he added.