'Muscovado' by BurntOut Theatre

Enter Miss Kitty’s parlour on the Fairbranch Plantation of St Lucy, Barbados in 1808; house slaves Nanny G and Asa are preparing for the arrival of an important guest from England; Willa a young slave girl is desperate to be in the family portrait; Parson Lucy is holding religious tuition over tea and sugar biscuits; Field slave Elsie wants to remember how to dream again.

BurntOut Theatre presents ‘Muscovado’ an original play about the British involvement in the slave trade, written by emerging playwright Matilda Ibini; performed as part of Black History Month 2014.

Set between the abolition of the slave trade act and the abolition of slavery, 'Muscovado' is about the tragedy of knowing freedom but never experiencing it; of finding beauty in the darkest shadows.

“Go to that room in your mind where your body can’t follow. Lock the door and wait for me there.”

Following performances at the V&A Museum in June as part of 'The Other Georgian Story', 'Muscovado' will be a site-specific production staged at Holy Trinity Church, Clapham Common, where William Wilberforce campaigned for the abolition of the slave trade in the late 1780s. The production features original music by emerging composer for theatre and television James Reynolds (ITV, BBC, C4), to be performed live by a choir. Playwright Matilda Ibini trained at The Royal Court, Soho and Arcola Theatres; she was recently awarded the BBC's Writersoom10 Award and will be resident playwright at Soho Theatre this year.

The production is supported with public funding from the Arts Council England.