Recently debuted at the 2013 National Black Theatre Festival, “Searching for Willie Lynch” is based on the idea that we can be our own worst enemies.
In about 1970, a document appeared in print, purporting to be a speech made by a West Indies slave-owner named Willie Lynch. The speech was intended to teach a group of Virginia plantation owners how to keep their slaves under control by pitting them against one another. The letter promised to keep slaves undermining each other for at least 300 years. The Willie Lynch speech gained widespread notice when it began circulating on the Internet in the 1990s. The play is set in southwest Louisiana, but it could happen anywhere greed and hatred appear to prevail over kindness and love.