Director's Desk: Wrestling with the Devil

Ti-Jean director Megan Sandberg-Zakian

The following was sent as an email from Director Megan Sandberg-Zakian (Harriet Jacobs) to the creative team about who will be playing the role of the Devil in URT/BPT's production of Ti-Jean and His Brothers.

"After our second round of auditions and some conversations with collaborators Kera and Sara, I’m still really drawn to the idea of casting the show as I originally described, with the role of the Devil split among the ensemble. (played by everyone except Ti Jean and Bolom) In lieu of a conversation with all of us in the room, I thought I would try and outline some of my current thinking on this in writing.
The genesis of the idea came from my genuine question about doing the play now, “who or what is the Devil in 2010?” I think a big part of this casting for me is an honest attempt to figure this out. For me, sometimes the best way of approaching a process is to centralize the big questions rather than marginalizing them. This is a big question that we will probably never all agree on an answer to, but this casting places The Question squarely at the center of the production. The use of the chorus, and the very epic feeling of the text, instantly brings to mind a Brechtian approach. This casting is a classic example of Brecht’s alienation effect – by having multiple bodies stand in for the Devil, we (the audience) can’t get caught up in the idea of the Devil as an evil villain that we can boo and hiss. We are forced to think about the big questions the play raises rather than mindlessly allowing ourselves to slip into our default mode of listening to a story, “I hope the good guy wins in the end and the bad guy loses.”

"Carnaval 2006" by Gerard Fortune

The text strongly supports the idea that the Devil can be found anywhere:

“But be careful of the hidden nets of the devil,
Beware of a wise man called Father of the Forest
The Devil can hide in several features,
A woman, a while gentleman, even a bishop.”

And suggests that even Jesus met his death at the hands of the Devil, hidden in the hands of men:

“Have mercy on my son,
Protect him from fear,
Protect him from despair,
And if he must die,
Let him die as a man,
Even as your Own Son
Fought the Devil and died.”

The setting for our production, too, resonates with this idea. A central element of Haitian voudou is the possession of serviteurs (worshippers) by the lwa (spirits). From what I’ve read, it seems that in voudou there is not a dichotomy of God (good) and Devil (evil) – there is a much more complex view of the behavior and motivation both of humans and of divine beings. There are choices and consequences, and humans and spirits are constantly in conversation about why they did certain things and what they should do next. (I think that this complexity is in strong evidence in Walcott’s portrait of the Devil; to my mind the proposed casting enhances an already compelling element of the character). There is also a strong Carnival tradition throughout the Caribbean which is a tradition of subversion, of
critique - when people take to the streets and dress up, they have permission to criticize, to parody, to ridicule, those who hold power.

Although we are certainly not going to re-enact a possession ritual, and the play isn’t a Carnival, I find some resonance in these traditions which support the idea of an ensemble of actors stepping into The Big Question and wrestling with it collectively .

Finally, I like the idea of implicating all of us (and I really mean all of us, not all of them) with this casting. Yes, oppression is one of the forces which keeps us from being able to live freely and prosperously. But as the text makes clear, there are other forces too – our own pride or ignorance, our own greed, our lack of imagination, our insensitivity. In order to triumph over the forces of oppression and injustice which threaten to suffocate us, it is not necessary to “be good” or to “play fair” (as Mi Jean and Gros Jean both try to do with the Devil, but not with the woodland creatures). Sometimes we must access the trickster in us, turn things on their head, piss some people off – all of this without losing sight of what we believe and what we love. I feel like this casting complicates and deepens the questions that Walcott’s text is asking us to consider, and does it in a way that is consistent with the formal elements – epic, classic, folkloric – of his writing.

I understand the concern that the casting could be interpreted as having the viewpoint “Haitians have brought evil upon themselves.” The play has to be treated with great sensitivity in any context, and especially being set in Haiti in light of our country’s problematic relationship to that nation. I’m very much aware of and sensitive to the material we’re dealing with here. No matter what the casting, it’s important to be mindful. For me, the proposed casting does not amplify those concerns in producing this play, nor does it allay them. It is very important to me to honor Walcott’s substantial and beautiful work. I feel like this approach, so far, is deeply respectful to the intention and the content of the text. I'm also happy to continue to discuss it and consider other options as we go forward.

Photography by Leah Gordon, available in her book Kanaval: Vodou, Politics and Revolution on the Streets of Haiti

That said… The one thing I am NOT sure of, is how the heck to make this idea work, logistically, in performance! I have a lot of ideas, and have had great conversations with Kera and Sara (can’t wait for a costume designer!!) and my brain is turning rapidly, but ultimately I need to get into the room with the actors to figure it out. Here, I think I agree with playwright Charles Mee when he defines the director as “the person who can maintain the anxiety of possibility and uncertainty the longest.” This is what rehearsal is for, and I’m not going to find an answer to this alone in my kitchen with the script, or writing an email. I’m pretty sure that this is a good idea. But if it’s not, and if it doesn’t work, I’m willing to let it go at any time. Anne Bogart says, “hold on tightly, let go lightly.” This kind of big risk taking is one of the reasons that I love working in the theater. Sooo... we'll see. And we'll keep talking!

I think I’ve written enough. Thanks for listening and I’d love to hear
your thoughts. Onwards!

Yours,
Megan