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A group of Africans are torn from their homes and herded in chains into squalid conditions aboard a slave ship and subjected to a tortuous sea voyage carrying them thousands of miles away from their homes and families. Cruelly treated, those who fall ill along the way are callously thrown overboard to drown so that they will not infect the other precious 'cargo'. Brought to a new land of Virginia they are subjected to lives of misery without even the basic of freedoms. Then, when the American colonialists rebel against their British governors, the British authorities encourage the slaves to run away from their masters, promising them land and freedom if they will fight for the British cause. Covering their black skins with the red coats of the British army, some of them fight with great distinction or die in the service of the King. But England is too caught up in European wars to pursue a war in the colonies and the British forces are forced to withdraw from the Southern colonies holding only the (then more lucrative) Canadian provinces. The slaves are given their promised land but, abandoned in the harsh barren terrain of Nova Scotia, it is little more than a death sentence for them. A British naval officer heeds their pleas and carries them back to Africa to found a new colony in the land of their origin where they are promised freedom and the right of self-government. But the progress towards independence is slow, leading to dissention and conflict between the former slaves and their white regulators. Will the colony succeed or be destroyed by anarchy and mistrust?
Timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire, this powerful docu-drama with music charts the course of British involvement in that trade, from complicity in the transportation of African slaves to the America's, to the active role taken by a few forward thinking individuals in plotting it's downfall. It is a harrowing story told mainly from the viewpoint of the slaves themselves, and highlighting the great dignity they displayed in the face of horrendous adversity. Along the way the complex story is developed with great sensitivity and imagination, bringing the sentiments and sufferings, deceits and bigotries to tantalising life.
The action takes place on a large raised platform built over the stage, pivoted across the middle so that it tilts towards and/or away from the audience at different stages in the action. When tilted away so that the leading edge is raised, it reveals a restricted area underneath which is used to represent the confined innards of a ship. When tilted forward, revealing it's full surface, it represents any of the larger spaces in which the action occurs. Video projected onto a screen behind the stage, and a powerful and evocative score add to the atmosphere and transport you along with the slaves on their epic journey.
Patrick Robinson (formerly 'Ash' in BBC's Casualty) gave a powerful performance as Thomas Peters, one of the slaves two natural leaders, but a sceptic at odds with his liberators when their promises were too long in coming. A man of courage and principle, he repeatedly insists, even in the years of his bondage, that he is no slave. In contrast, his counterpart, David George, played by Peter De Jersey, an educated second generation slave, was more trusting of his benefactors, trying to lead his people by the path of least resistance. Their white leader, John Clarkson, played by Ed Hughes, was an idealistic young man, striving to keep his promises to create a free utopia despite the frequent disingenuousness of his own masters. The interplay between these characters makes clear that there was strife within as well as between both the black and white communities, which remained seperate even in this new land of freedom. Dawn Hope as Phyllis George, wife of David George, and Miranda Colchester as Eliza Sharp, each excel in the musical interludes which are scattered liberally throughout the production. The music, in fact, is used to further accentuate the divide between the cultures. The slave songs are drum-driven, pseudo gospel, ballads, from which Dawn's rich, powerful and resonant voice rings out loud and clear. The abolitionists music, meanwhile, is reminiscent of Liszt or Handel, operatically sung by Miranda in a beautiful soft soprano.
A powerful and exultant drama highlighting the hypocrisy of Britains position in regard to the slave trade and examining what it means to be free.