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Published: February 27th 2017
The Carriacou Carnival is currently taking place. Carriacou is one of the Grenadian Islands, and strangely a bastion of Shakespearean theatre... of sorts.
Pierrot, or Shakespearean Mas, is a tradition celebrated on Shrove Tuesday (I know I'm a day early, but I've got pancakes to make tomorrow), as part of the carnival that stretches over a long weekend. The Mas is performed by wandering actors who walk around the island performing Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar and beating each other with sticks when they make a mistake
It is a carryover from the plantation era, when slaves were forced to perform for their owners and were hit when they made any errors. One site descibes it as 'an annual opportunity to mock the mannerisms and cruelties of the past.
To celebrate this strange carnival, I challenged my friends to a shakespeare-off, throwing insults back and forth at one another. Thanks guys!
Tomorrow: pancakes and a round up of February. Later this week; Micronesian interpretive dance, a night of witches, a birthday and lots of gin!
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