New Play Pays Tribute to Marie Laveau https://ift.tt/IAVQuTh
There’s something about reading a play that allows for full immersion into a different world. Carolyn Nur Wistrand’s play, She Danced with a Redfish: A Play in Two Acts, creates the feeling of being tucked away, hidden, while watching a secret unfold. Each well-researched scene reveals the moments when Marie Laveau steps into becoming the most famous healer and spiritual leader in New Orleans history.
The play centers around one year in Marie’s life when she transitions from being Mrs. Jacques Paris into a leader in her community. It’s a story that makes for an interesting play. It adds significance to the body of work that surrounds Marie Laveau’s life and, importantly, adds her to the pantheon of feminist spiritual leaders in US history who are often unsung and unknown.
The play commences with the priestess Sanité Dédé and the Women of Vieux Carré, who act as chorus and attendants. The Women of Vieux Carré chant or speak throughout the play with explanations and background, moving the story forward. Sanité Dédé and the Women of Vieux Carré come to the home of Marie Laveau to traditionally commemorate the passing of Marie’s grandmother. Marie’s husband, Jacques Paris, arrives home earlier than planned and is unhappy with the activities in his house. He’d prefer Marie confine herself to their Catholic traditions rather than to the traditions of her ancestors. This sets the stage with early conflict and represents the balancing act that Marie, women, and people of color are constantly performing to survive.
The play deftly handles the use of the word “witch,” often used as a dangerous pejorative through history, and takes the time to give context to how Marie developed into an iconic healing practitioner. Her character, written with agency, shows the historical barriers that affected her trajectory and choices.
Key figures in her life, including her husband Jacques, her mentor and friend Sanité Dédé, and the mysterious Dr. John play supporting roles, allowing Marie to express her emotions about the challenges she faces.
The play maintains its pacing with a two-act structure. The foreword, list of characters, and glossary also provide information that makes it possible to sink into the story without having to wonder who’s who. Photos of cast members are scattered throughout the book, making it both interesting and fun, a reminder that this is a work that is both a pleasure to read and designed to be a beautiful piece of theatre.
The language is clear and easy to follow. The research and attention to detail includes phrasing and spiritual practices from the era, portrayed thoughtfully. It creates a nuanced setting and story.
Marie — a priestess, the Vodou Queen of New Orleans, a magical practitioner, herbalist, midwife, and healer — is well-known. As the well-written foreword explains, her influence on New Orleans “played a major role in shaping its mystique.” While there are books, films, and cultural commentary about New Orleans,
“the perspective of Marie Laveau’s own early-nineteenth-century New Orleans community, les gens de couleur libres (free people of color), has been under-imagined on both the stage and screen. Cultural amnesia often leads to oblivion and distortion of cultural artifacts, and while Marie Laveau has long been a respected figure in the New Orleans community, she is frequently distorted into an evil character in popular culture, as is the Vodou religion.”
This play is written in a way that provides a sensitive, rather than sensationalist, approach to unveiling a pivotal part of Marie Laveau’s life, highlighting her humanity, compassion, and intelligence. It’s a striking work of art that tells part of the story of an extraordinary person who was, and remains, the Queen of New Orleans.
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