Feelgood Theatre announce the return of Slave: A Question of Freedom for a national tour that will be starting on the 9 October running until the 9 November showing at the Lowry, Bristol Tobacco Factory, Shakespeare North Playhouse and Riverside Studios London with the backdrop of civil war and famine raging in Sudan. The press night is the 10 October at The Lowry in Salford and 31 October at Riverside Studios in London.
Adapted from the autobiography of Mende Nazer a member of the Nuba community originally from Sudan, and directed by Caroline Clegg, Slave won Best New Play Award (Manchester Evening News); the first Anti-Slavery Human Trafficking Award (presented at 10 Downing Street), and North West Review Best Director, Best Production and Best Actor Award in 2011.
Slave: A Question of Freedom, told with an 8 person cast to be announced, shines a light on the inhumanity of modern slavery and trafficking that takes place in towns and cities around the world today. It is told in the voice of the writer Mende Nazer who eventually gained her freedom and is now a nurse living in New York.
Caroline Clegg, the artistic director of Feelgood Theatre said: “In reviving and re-imagining Slave we hope to once again share the beauty of the Nuba culture and most importantly raise awareness of the global crime of modern slavery and current conflict. Mende has asked me to use her voice to help others and my trip with her to the Nuba Mountains only served to redouble my efforts to do just that. This is more than just a play to those of us working on the production.”
The founder of the Human Trafficking Foundation and former MP, Anthony Steen said: “At a time when myths and misconceptions about human trafficking and modern slavery persist, it is vital to raise awareness of the realities of these dreadful crimes. Theatre productions are able to do just that by engaging an audience, many of whom would not have otherwise been aware of the extent of this issue in Britain and encouraging them to take action. We would like to congratulate Caroline Clegg and Feelgood Theatre in continuing their invaluable production, especially considering how greatly awareness of modern slavery still is 12 years after this play received its initial award.”
Mende Nazer, the original writer of the book Slave, said: “My experience and my story is a personal story, but it touches so many people including our children, because I was a child when I was enslaved. I think my story will help other people who are still going through a similar situation and even worse with modern slavery. My story will raise awareness and alert so many people who still don’t know what’s going on in Sudan. I think it’s about helping other people to see such critical situation and help those enduring that difficult time in their life.”
Led by Dr Rubina Jasani and Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) there will be a round table symposium ‘Experts by Experience’ at each venue where they will share their own experiences and people will be able to ask questions before and after seeing the play.
Speakers include the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Unit at the University of Manchester, the Human Trafficking Foundation and the Bakhita Centre at St Mary’s University London who will be presenting at the Symposiums at Riverside Theatre in London.
Since 2010, Caroline has continued to raise awareness of modern slavery through other projects and also the situation in Sudan with the Mende Nazer Foundation (MNF). In 2016 Mende and Caroline, travelled together undercover to the Nuba Mountains to take medical aid and hear testimony from victims of slavery escaped slaves to report back to the UK government. Subsequent work has seen the building of a clinic and installation of water pumps.
