Bad Kreyòl
Theater review by Raven Snook Two estranged cousins try to reconcile in the wake of their grandmother's death in Bad Kreyòl, Dominique Morisseau's witty and perceptive new play. Simone (Kelly McCreary), a first-generation Haitian-American with good intentions and poor communication skills, has traveled to Haiti to see Gigi (the delicious Pascale Armand), an ambitious boutique owner with high-end taste—she looks fabulous in Haydee Zelideth's vibrant costumes—but no tact at all. From the get-go, the two are dissing cousins: Gigi criticizes Simone's weight, hair, aimlessness and crappy grasp of the local language; Simone takes Gigi to task for being judgmental and participating in corrupt class systems. Plagued by guilt, privilege and unwitting American saviorism, Simone spends her visit attempting to make an impact on her troubled ancestral homeland while ignorant of the country's customs. While Gigi waits for her American cousin at home, longing to share family stories and their grandmother's pate recipe, Simone is out encouraging locals to stand up for themselves—particularly Pita (Jude Tibeau, in a spectacular performance), a former restavèk who came to work for Gigi’s family as a child and now, as a grown gay man, continues his duties. Bad Kreyòl | Photograph: Courtesy Matthew Murphy As with her previous plays, which include Skeleton Crew and Confederates, Morisseau parses complex issues like class, colonialism and the American-Haitian culture divide without resorting to
