The Mighty Corbeau

The first of the award-winning dramas from the BBC World Service and British Council’s 2024 International Playwriting Competition. Julien Marvin Neaves from Trinidad and Tobago is the winner of the English as a First Language prize. The drama is set in contemporary Trinidad and is a story of identity, love, and memory set to the tunes of calypso music.

Brian Gonzales (The Mighty Cocrico) is spurred into reviving his career after news that his musical rival is to receive a national award. He wants a chance to show he can be the best and achieve his lifelong ambition. It is a rivalry that goes back a long way. They both reached the Calypso Monarch finals, but Lord Morpheus took the crown and Brian could never accept defeat or forgive his rival. Lord Morpheus rubbing salt in the wounds even went on to compose a hit song making fun of Brian called ‘De Mighty Corbeau.’ But Brian’s quest for glory is thwarted by an unseen force that threatens to destroy him and everything he loves. A birds-eye-view at one man’s dreams and its repercussions for him and his family.

Don Warrington stars as Brian, Suzette Llewellyn plays his wife Sheila and Gershwyn Eustache Jnr plays their son, Sheldon. Damian Lynch plays Carlos, Shiloh Coke is Mickey G and Burt Caesar plays Observer. The Calypso Verses and Rap composed by Dominique Le Gendre. The director, Tracey Neale.

It is a BBC Studios Audio production for the World Service.

Image: Don Warrington in The Mighty Corbeau (Credit: BBC)