The Noose: A Play (Global Black Writers in Translation)($24.95Value)

Description

The Noose (also known as Pèlin-Tèt ) focuses on the lives of two Haitian immigrants living in a grubby basement apartment in New York City in 1978. One, Polydor, is a middle-class intellectual and political refugee. The other, Pyram, is a lower-class laborer. For the sake of saving money, the two have been sharing the apartment for three years. While Pyram is away working, Polydor apparently does nothing but read books on political theory. His source of funds remains a mystery. With recent productions in Canada and the United States, the publication of this play in English will provide a new generation of audiences access to this important text, accompanied by an introduction by translator Asselin Charles and an afterword by Jean Jonassaint, both preeminent scholars of Frankétienne’s literary output. Asselin Charles is a retired professor of language and literature. He is the literary translator of many works, including Anténor Firmin’s masterwork The Equality of the Human Races and Frankétienne’s great Kreyòl novel Dézafi . Two Haitian men, Polydor, a middle-class intellectual, and Pyram, a blue-collar worker, are rooming together in a sparsely furnished, windowless basement studio apartment in New York. Polydor is lying in bed on his back, reading a book. He is so engrossed in his reading he does not notice Pyram coming into the room. Pyram combs his hair with his fingers, then walks toward Polydor’s bed... Pyram: Hey, man, check me out! What a devil! Polydor: (Polydor pretends not to hear.) Pyram: I’m hot as hell, all smoke and fire. I here. Polydor: What do you mean, “I here?” The correct phrase is “I’m here.” And since when were you ever so hot that you turned into a flaming devil? Pyram: Gimme a smoke. Got a Lucky Strike? Polydor: ( Polydor hands Pyram a pack of cigarettes.) Pyram: Hey, man! Share the wealth . (He takes several cigarettes.) Polydor: Put them back, man. Pyram: But I did. Polydor: You took three cigarettes, you cheat.