Steve Pratt talks to the creative minds behind a musical celebration of Haiti which almost upstaged itself by the overthrow of President Aristide and flash floods.

FOR stage producer Jan Ryan, a trip of Haiti proved a life-changing experience. She and her partner first travelled to the Caribbean in 1998 to visit the child they sponsored through a UK charity. They returned the following year because "we were enchanted by the idea of Haiti and decided to spend longer there".

They decided to drove to Haiti's first city, Port-au-Prince. The 120-mile journey in a battered, rented car took two days - "which gives you some idea of the state of the roads".

They'd heard of the legendary Hotel Oloffson, immortalised by Graham Greene in his novel The Comedians as the Hotel Trianon. Ryan had read in a guide book about the Tuesday night rock concerts given by a vodou rock band RAM, led by the hotel's owner and vodou priest Richard Morse. They decided to go to see and hear for themselves.

"It was one of those life-changing experiences," she says. "There were women of 80 serving lethal rum punches. A video of Mr Bean At The Parish Fete was being projected on the wall. And people were getting possessed by the vodou music. It was fantastic."

From that, she organised for RAM to play at the Edinburgh Festival in 2000 and on a short UK tour the following year. Now comes Vodou Nation which, after premiering in Leeds, tours to dates in York and Newcastle.

"People are so ignorant of Haiti and vodou is the one strand that runs through the whole culture," says Ryan. "I wanted to make a show that would help to bring this music and enjoyment to other people, and maybe correct people's view of vodou.

"I've been trying to put this show together since 2001 and it's been an uphill task. There have been times I've almost given up."

This year was considered a good time to stage the show as 2004 marks the bicentenary of Haiti, the world's first black-led republic. Little did Ryan know quite how much the country would be in the news this year.

First, the creative team was put together, led by director Brett Bailey, "enfant terrible" of the New South Africa's theatre, and Trinidadian director Geraldine Connor, whose past work at West Yorkshire Playhouse includes Carnival Messiah.

Then, in February, Bailey and Ryan travelled to Haiti to audition performers. The day they arrived rebels began working to overthrow President Aristide.

They pressed ahead with auditions. "We got 80 people along, most of whom had done some dancing but never done any acting. I think there was one person who'd been to the theatre before," recalls Ryan.

By the time she left a week later, the company had been chosen through auditions and workshops - and eight towns had fallen to the rebels.

"We didn't know what was going to happen or if we'd get back to rehearse," says Ryan. "Brett decided to stay a few more days, but got bumped off the last plane out and spent the whole of the coup sitting in the hotel. He underplays it, but I think it was a terrifying experience.

"People here in Leeds were saying, 'Is the show going to happen?'. We've really had to battle a lot. The airport was shut, no one was going in or out of the country. The woman whose rehearsal space we were going to use went into exile."

Real life events made Vodou Nation's story of the fall of a dictator even more relevant and more of a political piece than originally envisaged.

In the run-up to the show's opening, Haiti was in the headlines again when flash floods hit the island, leaving 900 people dead and some 3,000 homeless. A special charity show was staged at West Yorkshire Playhouse in aid of flood victims.

Vodou Nation uses a company of 16 musicians, dancers and singers to tell the story of Haiti and in particular vodou, recently given status as the country's official religion.

Music and lyrics are by Richard Morse, who leads the band RAM. His mother is Haitian but his father is American and he grew up in the Connecticut suburbs.

His musical career began in his senior year in college when he formed a punk rock new wave band. He moved to Haiti in 1985 to research vodou rhythms and formed RAM five years later. He now owns Hotel Oloffson. "The place had a tradition of doing folk lore shows, and I realised it was what I'd been looking for. More important, I met my wife who was dancing in the shows," he says.

"She gave me access to vodou. In learning the songs I started realising their beauty and the messages. People started listening and in a time of social upheaval people are looking for a social message. In Haiti, vodou is a part of life."

* Vodou Nation continues at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, until June 26. Tickets (0113) 213 7700. Then the show plays at York Theatre Royal from July 20-24 and Newcastle Theatre Royal from August 10-14.

Published: 17/06/2004