Play: Black Spartacus

Toussaint Louverture (c. 1743-1803) was the leader of the only successful slave revolt in modern history. He masterminded the defeat of the mighty French, British and Spanish empires which led to the liberation of Haiti's African slaves and the creation of the first independent black state in the modern era. Haiti (known until this time as the French colony of Saint-Domingue) became fully independent in 1804, half a century before the American civil war emancipated slaves in the United States.

Toussaint proved to be not only a gifted military strategist but also a skilled diplomat. Early histories declare him to be the grandson of an African king, and he was a slave certainly until his early thirties before being granted his freedom.

His name suggests that he was born on All Saints Day and he was known throughout his life as a devout Catholic, although, intriguingly, a masonic symbol used in his signature hints at his membership of the Masonic Lodge of Saint-Domingue.

Toussaint was versed in the anti-slavery polemics of the French Enlightenment abolitionist Abbé Raynal. His medical knowledge derived both from traditional African herbalism and techniques practised in the Jesuit-administered hospitals. In the Constitution of 1801, Article 6 declares: 'The Catholic, Apostolic, Roman faith shall be the only publicly professed faith.' The syncretist vodou religion, comprised of Catholicism and African belief systems, was widely practised by the slave population.

Joseph Charles, the artistic director of Thee Black Swan Theatre and Opera Company, has brought to the stage Anthony Maddalena's Black Spartacus, a play about the Haitian revolution and Louverture's leadership of this. In a reference to the slave who challenged Rome, General Etienne Laveaux, Commander of the French forces, hailed Louverture as 'The black Spartacus avenging his people of ancient wrongs.'

Thee Black Swan was formed to provide artists from diverse heritage with a platform to share and develop their talent. The company seeks to explore a variety of cultures in its productions. Charles draws upon a range of experience and emerging talent in his inventive production.

I was particularly taken with the strong ensemble playing and expressive physicality of the cast. From the outset, Sheba Montserrat's vibrant movement direction hits home; and a potential fault-line between a static Catholicism, imported from the metropolitan centre - symbolised by a plaster icon of the Virgin - and a dynamic Vodou religion, welling up from below, is communicated by the dancing figures of a Vodou ceremony, and the pulsating drumming of Zozo, the drummer and musical director.

Maddalena's script charts the complex narrative chronology of the French Revolution's exporting of the 'Liberty, Equality and Fraternity' to Haiti, and the subsequent militating for reforms, ends to corporal punishment, emancipation, loyalty to France, fending off the British and Spanish, Napoleon's potential to re-impose slavery, and final full-blown independence. His play notes the racial tensions between blacks, mixed race 'mulattoes', and whites, and chronicles the rise of Toussaint to full leadership, and his subsequent fall, engineered not least, in his interpretation, by the Generals Dessalines and Christophe.

The full-bodied ensemble work and several strong performances bring this complexity to vivid life. Jim Findley is a thoughtful, sagacious and thoroughly decent Toussaint, charismatic by dint of his intelligent example and generosity of spirit. Ben Onwukwe performs two crucial roles with aplomb. As Boukman Dutty, the former Jamaican slave who has 'book-learning' and who presides over the Bois-Cayman vodou ceremony on the eve of the feast of the Assumption which ignited the initial uprising, he communicates a cool, appraising intensity, speaking with a rich 'English' diction. As Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint's fearsome lieutenant, his voice changes to creole intonations, and his whole body stiffens, imitating the action of a tiger. Devon Morgan is a dangerous clown with a touch of Idi Amin as Biassou, one of the initial leaders of the revolution. Allison Mason provides a highly compelling interpretation of the vodou priestess Mambo Cecile Fatiman. She alternates between joyous humour and fearful conviction, slitting a pig's throat at the Bois Cayman ceremony. She sucks between her teeth to convey disapproval and moves with grace and force over the stage.

At the climax of the play, a Christ-like Toussaint is betrayed by his generals and delivered over to the French. He famously warned his captors that the rebels would not be so easily defeated: 'In overthrowing me, you have cut down in Saint-Domingue only the trunk of the tree of liberty; it will spring up again from the roots, for they are numerous and they are deep.'

Toussaint was deported to France in 1802 and died in prison the following year. Yet the success of the Haitian revolution shook the institution of slavery throughout the world. Certainly, the British abolitionists took much inspiration from it, and the British slave trade was abolished in 1806. Interestingly, this production incorporates much modern dress: a warning that slavery is still, shockingly, all-too present both in Britain and the world, demanding the need for ongoing action and vigilance.

I would like Maddalena to re-visit his informative script in order to incorporate greater psychological and poetic depth in his leading characters, drawing on acknowledged speeches and attributed words not least. But he and Charles have succeeded in bringing to the London stage an icon and emblem of hope in the struggle against slavery and colonialism. Toussaint is an ongoing inspiration to figures as celebrated as CLR James, Aimé Césaire and Carlos Santana. Joseph Charles has triumphed in staging a rich and passionate play as part of this ongoing inspiration. I warmly urge you to see it.

Black Spartacus
The Courtyard Theatre, London, N1
0207 729 2202
To 12 September.

For more information and link to a film clip see: www.facebook.com/BlackSpartacusPlay