John Guare's new play is astonishing, raucous and panoramic. A Free Man
of Color is set in boisterous New Orleans prior to the historic
Louisiana Purchase. Before law and order took hold, and class, racial
and political lines were drawn, New Orleans was a carnival of beautiful
women, flowing wine and pleasure for the taking. At the center of this
Dionysian world is the mulatto Jacques Cornet, who commands men, seduces
women and preens like a peacock. But, it is 1801 and the map of New
Orleans is about to be redrawn. The Louisiana Purchase brings American
rule and racial segregation to the chaotic, colorful world of Jacques
Cornet and all that he represents, turning the tables on freedom and
liberty.