The Night of the Iguana

A rum-coco is a tropical drink that is made by slicing off the top of a coconut shell and mixing rum, lemon juice, sugar, and cracked ice with the natural juice of the coconut. The resulting cocktail is a cartoonishly stereotypical image of a vacation beverage, one that is often sipped while lying on the beach or in a hammock. In his essay about his summer in Mexico, Tennessee Williams fondly remembers reclining in a hammock beside his newfound friend and drinking rum-cocos while they both indulged in endless conversations. In the play, the tree that supplies the coconuts for these signature cocktails leans right over the veranda, and in the first few moments of Act I, Pedro climbs up the tree to harvest the fruits. Maxine provides a free rum-coco to her guests, frequently pushing them as a solution for fraught situations. For instance, she offers one to Hank, the bus driver, who has come up the hill to confront Shannon and claim the bus key in order to end the sweaty standoff that Shannon incited. Throughout the play, Maxine tries repeatedly to persuade Shannon to drink one in an effort to soothe his nerves and head off his inevitable mental health crisis.