Box the Play

‘BOX’ is a story about four Haitian refugees who stow away aboard an industrial ocean liner seeking freedom by sealing themselves inside a large coffee container. The ghost of Henry ‘BOX’ Brown, a former slave who literally mailed himself to freedom in 1848, visits them. This play explores one’s desire for freedom and their determination to achieve it Virginia slavery in 1848 and Haitian life in 1988 are eerily similar. What kind of oppression would cause a man to seal himself inside a box in the hope of something better? 'BOX' celebrates Haitian culture, history and relationships, as well as the freedoms both real and perceived in the United States. It illustrates a distinct connection of how Haiti forged ahead from the most successful slave rebellion, but still ends up 200 years later fighting a corrupt, oppressive government and its citizens still wishing for something better....deserving something better.