By Charlene Baldridge | Theater Review
Who are these people in Jeff Augustin’s “The Last Tiger in Haiti,” these young Haitians living in tentlike shelter in 2008?
They are restaveks – child slaves who live out a sanctioned tradition in which poor families give children they cannot provide for to wealthier families, where they will have a better life until they’re 18. Or at least, that is the hope.
This particular group comprises Rose (Brittany Bellizeare), 13, the youngest; Max (Andy Lucien), the eldest at 18; Emmanuel (Clinton Roane), Laurie (Jasmine St. Clair) and Joseph (Reggie D. White). Max, the de facto protector of the others, in particular Rose, plans to leave for the mountains early in the morning, the day after the end of kanavel, the celebration that precedes Lent.
In the first scene of the play, Max discovers that the money he’s squirreled away and buried outside the shelter, likely to be used for his transition, has been stolen. Before bedtime, all gather to tell tall tales in a competitive game called Krik (Shall I tell a story?) Krak (Yes). One particularly disarming tale is punctuated by Jay Adana’s charming original folksong, “The Orange Tree.” The stories become more and more horrifying, until fear is palpable (and audible), and the demarcation between reality and fantasy is obliterated. Max leaves to investigate the threat and returns covered with blood. End Act I.
Act II is set 16 years later in a palatial, ocean view condo in Miami. Rose, who learned her storytelling well, has written and published a best-selling book about the restavek experience, in which Max is the hero. At her request, Max visits her. Their exchange solves enigmas, but new doubts are created. Can storytellers ever be trusted to be truthful? And who gets to tell others’ stories?
The lavish La Jolla Playhouse world premiere moves on to co-producing Berkeley Repertory Theatre later this year. Despite its inscrutability, the play is beautifully acted and meticulously directed by Joshua Kahan Brody, currently in residence at the Playhouse with a Princess Grace Award fellowship.
Augustin and Brody are alumni of UC San Diego’s MFA program in theater, and “The Last Tiger” was in part developed in La Jolla Playhouse’s DNA New Work Series. Artistic Director Christopher Ashley apparently was so moved by the piece that he programmed it in this season.
As is common in the Mandell Weiss Forum, dialogue – even as delivered by an experienced company – tends to waft away into the wings and upper reaches of the venue. Coupled with French-tinged Haitian accents, the acoustics decreased comprehension of the text and prevented deeper understanding, involvement and appreciation.
There is much to admire in Takeshi Kata’s contrasting scenic designs. Costume designer is Dede Ayite; lighting designer, Alexander Nichols; sound designer, Nicholas Drashner; hair and wig designer, Cookie Jordan; dialect coach, Chantal Jean-Pierre; and dramaturg, Gabriel Greene.
—Charlene Baldridge has been writing about the arts since 1979. Follow her blog at charlenebaldridge.com or reach her at [email protected].
