We Dance Stephen Flaherty

(It was the early 2000s in Haiti. In the darkness, we hear the sounds of a violent storm. Thunder roars, and lightning flashes to reveal a group of peasant storytellers huddled together in fright around a fire. A child cries out in terror and the adults welcome us to the show in order to soothe her.)

[STORYTELLER 1, spoken]
Welcome to an island where rivers run deep

[STORYTELLER 2, spoken]
Where the sea, sparkling in the sun, earns it the name Jewel of the Antilles

[STORYTELLER 3, spoken]
An island where the poorest of peasants labor

[STORYTELLER 4, spoken]
And the wealthiest of the grand hommes play

[STORYTELLER 5, spoken]
Two different worlds on one island!

[STORYTELLER 6, spoken]
The grand hommes with their pale brown skin and their French ways, owners of the land and masters of their own fates

[STORYTELLER 7, spoken]
And the peasants, black as night, eternally at the mercy of the wind and sea, who pray constantly... to the gods

[STORYTELLER 1]
Asaka, grow me a garden