CRY OLD KINGDOM

written by JEFF AUGUSTIN

Advanced Scenic Design: Conceptual Scenic and Multimedia Design

Cry Old Kingdom is a play about three individuals during the time of the Haitian revolution in 1964, and their relationships to each other and to the world around them. Throughout the play we see the connection and sacrifice these three characters make to and for each other, and how each of them deals differently with oppression. Edwin is in stasis, dead to the world, yearning for life, and yet unwilling to make change in his situation. Judith exists in the past, constantly reaching for a time when her and Edwin’s relationship was passionate and the old Haiti of her childhood. Henri Marx dreams of the unknown, of a life in America where he can make is own way and be free. Surrounding all of them is the revolution, which is the backbone of this piece, imbuing it with deeply political undercurrents. However, this play also strips that down to the core of how it affects us on an intimate human level. It asks the audience how these large themes of oppression and revolution change how we interact with the people in our lives. It is thus important to marry the two, macro and micro, revolution and intimate relationship in the design.The design looks to support this idea by physically surrounding both the actors and the audience with the walls of the Haitian revolution. Cobbled from cement, cinder block, corrugated metal, and all spray painted with revolutionary graffiti, the playing space functions as a malleable space - the same area can be the house or the beach. In the final moment of the play, when Judith returns to the vision of old Haiti, projections will map to the graffiti, transforming the walls into the Carnival of Judith’s dreams. 

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