The Gods

Q: Why are the Gods important in the play?
A: Gods are very important in Haitian culture. Haiti was a French colony island, and Catholicism was brought to the island. As with many cultures (including our own) there are pagan symbols within Christianity. In Haiti, Christianity was brought to the island, but there already existed the idea of the worship of the land, the worship of the sea. Haitians are people who live and die by the land; they live and die by weather that can devastate them in one foul swoop in about an hour. I think when people live off the land, the idea of worshipping the land is as much about worshipping any God. If one worships ones land – and is good to its ecology, good to its animals, actually appreciates the miracle that is the earth – it is worshipping something, and in Haiti they very much continue to worship their Gods of the earth the water and many others. The original Vodou beliefs of Haitian people and the Catholicism brought in by the French are interlinked. In the show we deal with modern day Haiti but we are telling a story that has been passed from generation to generation.