video excerpts of the productions of GREENWAY Arts Alliance
 DESSALINES
(THE HEART) BLOOD AND LIBERATION
Levy
Lee Simon, the playwright, tells the story of how black slaves rose up and overthrew their
cruel masters from France and other European countries in the emerging free
nation of Haiti in 1802-1806. Independence was accomplished through the
leadership of one dynamic General, Jean Jacques Dessalines, The Tiger.
The first great leader of the Haitian revolution, Toussaint L’Ouverture, has
been captured by the French and sent away to rot in a French prison for the
rest of his days. It falls on Dessalines, a warrior of legendary ferocity,
to lead his people to freedom from the French. Dessalines becomes Emperor
and absolute ruler of the liberated Haiti but, as the old adage says,
absolute power corrupts absolutely. His violent temper, coupled with a
chilling drive for vengeance, creates new challenges for the newly freed
populace. His megalomania will accomplish what nothing else could….draw the
blacks and mulattoes closer together as they unite in the resolution of the
new problem that is Dessalines, and the masses will be moved to revolt once
more.
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