"Cric?" "Crac!"

Haitian-Canadian storyteller Joujou Tourenne

"The moon always there even fighting the rain
Creek-crack it is cold, but the moon always there
And Ti-Jean in the moon just like the story . . .
Before you fly home, listen,
The Cricket cracking a story
A story about the moon."

- The Cricket, Ti-Jean and His Brothers

Storytelling is a vital and vibrant part of the Haitian/Pan-Caribbean culture. Storytellers have the ability to spread tradition, values, and morality throughout communities and villages at little-to-no cost. I've been reading a lot of Haitian folktales, and they're mostly all recorded with an audience participation aspect built into them.

Just as Western fairy tales usually start with "once upon a time," Caribbean folk tales begin with an invocation, too. I've seen "Voila!" used in some Haitian stories, but most prevalent is "Cric?" "Crac!"

Haitian storyteller Georges Nesly

When a story teller asks their audience "Cric?" he or she asks them if they're ready to hear a story. The audience responds "Crac!" to say "Yes! We want to help you tell it!" It's no coincidence the Frog's first lines of the play are "Greek-Croak!"

A Haitian storyteller is more than a teller of tales -- they are performance artists using their voices, movements, props, and songs to make their stories come to life. The Haitian storyteller uses and plays with their audience just as the audience plays with the storyteller so that both may be spiritually immersed in the world being crafted in front of them.