Aimé Césaire’s 1970 play about Haiti’s little-known and brief period of monarchy gets a better production than it deserves from adapter and director Lanise Antoine Shelley and her cast. Césaire created not characters but mouthpieces for points of view about Haiti’s government in the years after its hard-won independence, and not even effective ones: without the timeline and director’s note in the program the action would be unintelligible. (The translation from French is by Paul Breslin and Rachel Ney.)
Still, the production showcases the considerable talents of William Anthony Sebastian Rose II as the king, struggling to secure respect from France and the [white] French while keeping his own people in line. Also outstanding is Matthew Lolar as the court jester/fool: his physical grace is extraordinary. Drummer Eric Thomas provides an appropriate backbeat to the action, while Joshua Schmidt’s excellent sound design highlights the cast’s fine voices under musical director Ricky Harris.
The Tragedy of King Christophe
Through 5/29: Thu-Fri 7:30 PM, Sat 3 and 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM; open captioning Sat 5/7, 3 PM and Sat 5/27, 7:30 PM; touch tour and audio description Sat 5/14, 3 PM; relaxed/sensory-friendly performance Sat 5/21, 3 PM; Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division, thehousetheatre.com, $20-$50.
The House Theatre’s motto used to be “Story Save Us!” The Tragedy of King Christophe lacks precisely that sort of propulsive story, and no amount of directorial creativity or actorly skill can make up for its absence.
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