Playwright Dominique Morisseau has been someone whose career I’ve been following since I saw her play Skeleton Crew put on by Premiere Stages at Kean University. She has a talent for creating characters that are connected on deep, human levels. They may be working toward the same goal, yet they approach that goal from different perspectives, causing dramatic friction.
Morriseau’s latest play is Bad Kreyòl, commissioned by Signature Theatre and the Manhattan Theatre Club. It is the story of two cousins, one Haitian, the other Haitian-American, who seek to restore their familial connection. Their difficulty is in understanding the other’s culture through the filters of their own.
The play begins with Haitian-American Simone (Kelly McCreary) arriving in Port-au-Prince, at the boutique of her Haitian cousin Gigi (Pascale Armand). Their grandmother has recently died; her dying wish was that the cousins reconnect, healing the rift in the family. Gigi, having to take care of her ailing grandmother in a country of poverty, war, and natural disaster, has built a no-nonsense shell around her, convinced she knows what’s best for everyone. Simone, embarrassed over her lack of knowledge of her native tongue — her “bad Kreyòl” — brims over with the desire to help by fighting for social justice, offending Gigi by ignoring her experiential knowledge of Haitian culture.
The cousins’ biggest clash concerns Pita (Jude Tibeau), Gigi’s assistant to whom she has given the family name for protection — as Pita is a gay man in a society that does not tolerate gays. Pita longs to have the freedom he’s heard about in the United States for LGBTQ people. To that end he plans to join the Haitian gay rights organization Kouraj (courage). Simone supports him in finding his own path to happiness, while Gigi tries to dissuade him amidst her fears for Pita’s safety.
Simone also harps on workers’ exploitation to Gigi, whose boutique is stocked with fashionable items that command high prices. On a trip to a building containing several crafts studios, she meets Lovelie (Fedna Jacquet), an ex-prostitute who designs and makes accessories – scarves, handbags, and pillows. Simone arranges for Gigi to meet Lovelie and takes an interest in the industrious young woman, agreeing to sell her works. But Gigi is in a business relationship with Thomas (Andy Lucien), who supplies international stores – and whose business associates have been circling around Lovelie for “favors”.
Director Tiffany Nichole Greene skillfully guides her cast through the emotional and cultural minefield that is modern Haiti, eliciting richly realized portraits of those who live and work there as well as that of a well-meaning but culturally blind outsider. Greene welds her actors into a smoothly running ensemble, more than capable of filling in the details of Morisseau’s characters. Jason Sherwood’s set consists of a photo-realistic mural of a hillside neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, with two large central sliding doors opening up to reveal a structure that rotates to reveal the interior and exterior of Gigi’s Boutique and the interior of Lovelie’s workshop. Alan C. Edwards’ lighting design and the sound designs of Curtis Craig and Jimmy Keys, along with the props of Ned Cían Gaynor and the costumes of Haidee Zelideth, contribute to creating the strange new world that Simone enters.
Bad Kreyòl is a play of rare quality. It allows us to see Haiti in all its misery through Simone’s eyes, yet see its beauty and spirit through the eyes of Gigi, Peta, and Lovelie. It allows the audience to comprehend the causes for misunderstanding between Gigi and Simone — yet offers us hope that the two estranged cousins can find reconciliation, honoring the last wish of their grandmother. I encourage you to see this play and hear the beauty of its language, even if at times it’s just Bad Kreyòl!
Bad Kreyòl is presented by the Signature Theatre and the Manhattan Theatre Club in the Alice Diamond Space at Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street in New York, through Dec. 8, 2024. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to manhattantheatreclub.com or signaturetheatre.org.
