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    A Free Man of Color
    A Free Man of Color
    A Free Man of Color
    Ebook146 pages1 hour

    A Free Man of Color

    By John Guare

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    About this ebook

    The Tony Award-winning playwright spins “a tale of adultery, racism and the Louisiana Purchase…with daring and dizzying skill” (Ben Brantley, The New York Times).

    The author of classics American plays such as Six Degrees of Separation and The House of Blue Leaves, Tony and Obie Award-winning playwright John Guare is celebrated for his theatrically playful, intellectually dazzling imagination. His play “A Free Man of Color evolves from a bustling farce into something deeper and darker but similarly exhilarating” (USA Today).

    A Free Man of Color is set in boisterous New Orleans prior to the historic Louisiana Purchase. Before law and order took hold and class, racial, and political lines were drawn, New Orleans was a carnival of beautiful women, flowing wine, and pleasure for the taking. At the center of this Dionysian world is Jacques Cornet, a mixed-race gentleman who commands men, seduces women, and preens like a peacock. But it is 1801 and the map of New Orleans is about to be redrawn. The Louisiana Purchase brings American rule and racial segregation to the chaotic, colorful world of Jacques Cornet and all that he represents, turning the tables on freedom and liberty.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateOct 18, 2011
    ISBN9780802195005
    A Free Man of Color

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      Book preview

      A Free Man of Color - John Guare

      A Free Man of Color

      Plays by John Guare

      Bosoms and Neglect

      Chaucer in Rome

      Cop-Out

      A Few Stout Individuals

      Four Baboons Adoring the Sun

      A Free Man of Color

      General of Hot Desire

      His Girl Friday (adaptation)

      Home Fires

      House of Blue Leaves

      Lake Hollywood

      Landscape of the Body

      Lydie Breeze:

      Part One: Women and Water

      Part Two: Bulfinch’s Mythology

      Part Three: The Sacredness of the Next Task

      Marco Polo Sings a Solo

      Moon Under Miami

      Muzeeka

      Rich and Famous

      Six Degrees of Separation

      JOHN GUARE

      A Free Man of Color

      Grove Press

      New York

      Copyright © 2011 by John Guare

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Scanning, uploading, and electronic distribution of this book or the facilitation of such without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. Any member of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or anthology, should send inquiries to Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 841 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 or to permissions@groveatlantic.com.

      CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that A Free Man of Color is subject to royalties. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and all British Commonwealth countries, and all countries covered by the International Copyright Union, the Pan-American Copyright Convention, and the Universal Copyright Convention. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound taping, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, such as information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and rights of translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved.

      The stock and amateur live stage performance rights to A Free Man of Color are controlled exclusively by Dramatists Play Services, Inc. No professional or nonprofessional performance of the play may be given without obtaining in advance the written permission of Dramatists Play Services, Inc., 440 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016, and paying the requisite fee, whether the play is presented for charity or gain and whether or not admission is charged.

      First-class professional applications for permission to perform it, and those other rights stated above, must be made in advance to International Creative Management, Attn: Patrick Herold, 730 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10019.

      Published simultaneously in Canada

      Printed in the United States of America

      FIRST EDITION

      ISBN-13: 9780802195005

      Grove Press

      an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

      841 Broadway

      New York, NY 10003

      Distributed by Publishers Group West

      www.groveatlantic.com

      11  12  13  1410  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

      For

      George C. Wolfe who put it into motion,

      André Bishop and Bernard Gersten who made it happen,

      and Adele C-T who gave it the spirit

      A Free Man of Color was commissioned and produced by the Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont, New York, New York, under the direction of André Bishop and Bernard Gersten. It opened in December 2010 with the following cast:

      JACQUES CORNETJeffrey Wright

      CUPIDON MURMUR AND TOUSSAINT LOUVERTUREMos

      ZEUS-MARIE PINCEPOUSSE AND TALLYRANDReg Rogers

      MARGERY JOLICOEURNicole Beharie

      DR. TOUBIBJoseph Marcell

      JUAN VENTURA MORALES AND NAPOLEON BONAPARTETriney Sandoval

      DOÑA SMERALDA AND JOSEPHINEJustina Machado

      ORPHEEEsau Pritchett

      LEDA, MME. DORILANTE, AND MELPOMENETeyonah Parris

      DOÑA ATHENE AND CALLIOPESara Gettelfinger

      REMY DORILANTE AND JAMES MONROEArnie Burton

      JONATHAN SPARKS AND MAJOR WALTER REEDBrian Reddy

      MRS. SPARKS, TERPSICHORE, AND THE INFANTARosal Colón

      LORD HARCOURT, LE CLERC’S CAPTAIN, AND GEORGES FEYDEAURobert Stanton

      LADY HARCOURT AND EUTERPEWendy Rich Stetson

      ALCIBIADEDavid Emerson Toney

      PYTHAGORE, GENERAL LE CLERC AND KING CARLOS CUARTONick Mennell

      MERCURE AND COUNT ACHILLE CREUXPeter Bartlett

      MME. MANDRAGOLA, DOÑA POLISSENA, AND ROBERT LIVINGSTONVeanne Cox

      THOMAS JEFFERSONJohn McMartin

      MERIWETHER LEWISPaul Dano

      DirectorGeorge C. Wolfe

      SetsDavid Rockwell

      CostumesAnn Hould-Ward

      LightingJules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer

      SoundScott Stauffer

      Original MusicJeanine Tesori

      ChoreographyHope Clarke

      The play is set in New Orleans, 1801–1806, and other locations in Europe and America.

      In the New World at this time, there was a vocabulary of more than a hundred terms for people of mixed race, extending back seven generations in an individual’s heritage. For example: pure white and pure black = mulatto; mulatto and black = sambo; mulatto and white = quadroon; a mamelouc was 113 of 120 parts white, etc.

      ACT ONE

      JACQUES CORNET appears, a dazzling piece of work. His coat is made of purple satin and embroidered and laced with gold. His shoes have diamond buckles. His bewigged hair, powdered. His magnificence is overwhelming. MURMUR accompanies him.

      JACQUESThe year is 1801. Alas. This is the last time men will dress like this.

      All men equal? Clothes tell the ranks.

      I have taste. For that I give my daily thanks.

      If a book can’t be told by its cover, what good’s the book?

      The world would be better if it followed my lead.

      If I’m a book, I’m a damned good read.

      Murmur, introduce me—

      MURMURHis name used to be—

      JACQUES CORNET (cutting him off)My name is Jacques Cornet. New Orleans is my home.

      MURMURI’m Cupidon Murmur, his administrative assistant.

      JACQUES CORNETLast time I looked, you were my slave.

      MURMURWhich is why I stopped looking. Didn’t you used to be a slave?

      JACQUES CORNETDon’t be fresh, Murmur. Even though born of a slave, I purchased my freedom and became my father’s heir.

      MURMUR‘My father’s heir.’ A very rich, very white father, left my boss everything. Including me. I do all the work. He does nothing.

      JACQUES CORNETI beg your pardon. Each morning I can be found in my atelier, writing my play.

      MURMURWhere’d you get the nerve to write a play?

      JACQUES CORNETBrocade gave me confidence.

      MURMURDoes your masterpiece have a title?

      JACQUES

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