Theater - Haiti Observer Blog

GableStage, London's Royal Shakespeare Company and New York's Public Theatre have taken the story of Anthony and Cleopatra, done in many mediums throughout the hundreds of years since the story originally unfolded in Rome, and given it such a new twist it is expected to change the landscape of theatre in the South Florida region.

The new aspect comes from the Caribbean flavor set to the story as the characters and events are now centered on Haiti at the height of the revolution. Penned by Tarell Alvin McCraney, a known playwright and actor, the story is expected to be a 'stripped-down' rendition which will culminate with Cleopatra's suicide in the thick of the final revolutionary battle.

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Haitian culture's emblematic figure, Franketienne is a Haitian teacher, painter, actor, writer and poet. He has authored 40 books in Creole and French that include names like Ultravocal and Dezafi. His exceptional work has earned him numerous literary awards and prizes. He was born in 1936 and his original name was Franck Etienne. When it comes to painting and art, Franketienne is known for his abstract and colorful work and very often he has been found to be emphasizing on red and blue.

Franketienne is a protagonist - larger-than-life type of protagonist and even during the days when Haiti succumbed to the dictatorships of Papa Doc and Baby Doc, he was never forced by his fear to step down of the National Stage. Franketienne compares a dictator to sado-masochistic relationship where a master is served by his slaves and the very existence of a master depends on the existence of slaves. However, Franketienne never related the historic Haitian slavery with sado-masochistic relationship because even though the master-slave relationship held true in those days, the only problem was that the slaves were considered to be expendable because of excess supply.

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