On November 20, 2014 students from “The Haitian Revolution and its Legacy” (History 2862) seminar presented an abridged version of C. L. R. James’ Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History

Musical Accompaniment: Bowdoin College Afro-Latin Music Ensemble

Trinidadian intellectual and activist C.L.R. James spent four years writing Toussaint Louverture. The play, which was completed in 1934, was performed just twice on the stage, on March 15 and 16, 1936 at London’s Westminster Theatre, with the great African-American actor and singer, Paul Robeson, cast in the role of Toussaint. The script was lost for decades, until a graduate student discovered it several years ago in a British archive. James’ Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History. A Play in Three Acts was recently published by Duke University Press (2013).

Watch the recorded performance