16 – 17 July
The Hamlet Voyage: A new play by Rex Obano, long-listed for the Alfred Fagon Award, has its world premiere on board the Matthew ship at the 50th Anniversary Bristol Harbour Festival 16-17 July.
In 1607, sailors on the first English voyage to reach India stopped off in Sierra Leone for supplies and to recover from scurvy. It was recorded in the ship logs that during this stop the sailors performed Hamlet for the local West African dignitaries. This begs the question…why?
Re:Verse Theatre presents The Hamlet Voyage, a new play by Rex Obano recently long-listed for the Alfred Fagon award (one of the most prestigious awards championing the work of Black British playwrights). The play examines a unique cross-cultural encounter that took place before England became deeply involved in the Atlantic slave trade, before the age of British imperialism, and before Shakespeare became a global name.
This project has been in development for over a year, starting in the heart of the pandemic lockdown. Starting with a modest crowdfunder campaign and eventually gaining the support of a half dozen organisations plus community and education partners, Re:Verse Theatre was able to produce two workshops and a staged reading to develop the script and the production’s unique style. The play brings together movement, music, puppetry and storytelling styles from Mughal India, Renaissance England and the Temne people of Sierra Leone.
Writer Rex Obano: “To be writing about the first recorded performance of Shakespeare outside Europe is a very exciting prospect indeed. I have always been interested in writing Black British historical drama especially those stories that are little known, buried deep in the annals of history and confined to memory. Such stories as this explore Britain’s past but also tell us about Britain’s future.”
Director Ben Prusiner: “What is so unique about this story is that it takes place before England became deeply involved in colonialism or the slave trade, and so we see these three cultures (English, Temne and Mughal) encountering each other for the first time. We are still critical of English colonial ambitions, but the play also presents an opportunity to showcase storytelling, music and theatre from West Africa, South Asia and Western Europe.”
Re:Verse Theatre has assembled an incredibly unique team from of artists from Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Cape Verde, India, UK and US to tell this story:
Playwright Rex Obano (BBC Radio 4 Faith Hope and Glory)
Designer Olivia Altaras (Props for Punchdrunk and Wise Children)
Puppetry director and designer Anurupa Roy (Katkatha — New Delhi-based puppet theatre company)
Music director Jeevan Singh (Percussionist for the band RSVP Bhangra and Emma Rice’s Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe)
Movement director, David Dravie-John (Founder of Pax Productions, rooted in West African performance)
Assistant director Neuza Pereira Sa
Shakespeare & Maritime History Dramaturge, Laurence Publicover (Bristol University, co-editor of Shipboard Literary Cultures: Reading, Writing, and Performing at Sea)
Sierra Leonean History and Culture Dramaturge, Joseph Bangura (author of The Temne of Sierra Leone: African Agency in the Making of a British Colony).
The world premiere of this play will take place at the 50th Anniversary Bristol Harbour Festival 16 & 17 July (exact timings to be announced) and will be performed on the replica sailing ship, The Matthew (docked at the Underfall Yard Café) and coinciding with the 415th anniversary of the original Hamlet performance in Sierra Leone.
The Hamlet Voyage
16&17 July at the Bristol Harbour Festival – Underfall Yard Café, Cumberland Rd, Bristol BS1 6XG
12pm and 4.30pm both days
Free and unticketed event – limited first come first serves seats available on board the Matthew ship with more on the shore at Underfall Yard.
The Harbour Festival Performance is suitable for all audiences.
Note: This show will take place entirely outdoors. In the case of inclement weather performances may be delayed, modified, or cancelled
