Theatricum Botanicum breathes new life into William DuBois’ swashbuckling historical soap opera Haiti, giving the long-forgotten look back at the Haitian Revolution its very first production—and a rip-roaring one at that—since the New Deal-funded melodrama made theatrical history in 1938 by featuring a black-and-white cast performing side by side on a Harlem stage.

 Unfolding over eleven tumultuous months beginning with the 1802 arrival of French General Leclerc (Mark Lewis) and his tricolor-uniformed troupes on the island then known as St. Domingue, Haiti revolves around the armed conflict being fought by revolutionary leader Toussaint L’Ouverture (Rodrick Jean-Charles), General Christophe (Max Lawrence), and an island’s worth of Haitians willing to die for their island’s liberty, equality, and fraternity.

Among Haiti’s broad cast of characters are French colonels Roche (Tavis L. Baker) and Boucher (Jeff Wiesen) as well as Boucher’s wife Odette (Tiffany Coty), the granddaughter of the late Colonel Moreau, whose country house the French troupes now occupy as Haitian rebels conspire in the surrounding hills.

What neither Odette nor her husband nor her maid Aimee (Holly Hawk) know is that the beautiful young heiress is in fact the issue of an affair between Colonel Moreau’s long deceased son and Haitian housemaid Jacqueline (Earnestine Phillips), spirited back to France by her father while still an infant and only today making the acquaintance of the woman who, unbeknownst to her, gave her life.

 Completing Haiti’s cast of characters are General Leclerc’s wife (and Napoleon’s sister) Pauline (Lea Madda), Captain Duvall (Dane Oliver), the handsome Frenchman with whom Odette shares a powerful attraction that’s about to get even hotter once she has made the acquaintance of the equally attractive General Christophe, French soldiers Boule (Steve Fisher) and Josef (Cameron Rose), and assorted military men and civilians, both Haitian and French.

 Though hardly a theatrical classic, Haiti deserved better than eighty years of obscurity with its diverting mix of drama, comedy, and romance, cheer-worthy heroes and hissable villains, a cast of dozens, and with Oliver doing the fight choreography at Theatricum Botanicum, the most thrilling swordplay you’ll see all summer long.

 Ellen Geer directs with abundant flair, eliciting terrific work from a fiery and fabulous Phillips (in a role originally written as Jacques), a cruel and dastardly Wiesen, a suitably imperious Lewis, and a deliciously flighty Madda.

 As for Odette, the warm and winning Coty, gets two of L.A.’s most appealing and talented leading men (Oliver and Lawrence) to choose from.

 Jean-Charles is an impressive if underused Toussaint, Baker proves a spirited Colonel Roche, and Hawk makes the most of every Nurse Aimee moment, with Fisher and Rose providing adept support as do Altesa Baker, Asha Baker, Chai Baker, Louis Baker, Fabian Cook, Jr., Alexa Crismon, Sherrick O’Quinn, and Clarence Powell (and more than a few uncredited actors) in cameo roles.

 Set designer/prop master Ernest McDaniel has effectively adapted Theatricum Botanicum’s permanent outdoor set as a Haitian country house with Topanga’s surrounding hills providing striking backup, particularly as lit by Zachary Moore. (If possible, see Haiti at night for full effect.)

Beth Eslick’s period costumes, from elegant gowns to spiffy uniforms to weathered populace wear, merit kudos too as do Marshall McDaniel’s dramatic sound design and stirring original music and Jessica Monéa Evans’ native dance choreography.

Morgan Ramey and Kevin Hudnell are assistant directors. Kim Cameron is stage manager and Sydney Russell is assistant stage manager.

Pre-show atmosphere is provided by Michael Ngonidzashe Chinyamurindi, Bethany Koulias, Melora Marshall, Morgan Ramey, Gerald C. Rivers, and The Peace Players Drummers.

It may not be Shakespeare, but Haiti is too entertaining and informative a play to have spent the past eight decades buried on library shelves. Check it out this crowd-pleaser at Theatricum Botanicum and you’ll be glad you did.

The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga.
www.theatricum.com

–Steven Stanley
July 28, 2018
Photos: Ian Flanders

Tags: Haitian Revolution, Los Angeles Theater Review, Theatricum Botanicum, William DuBois