A drama charting the involvement of the Anglican church in the transatlantic slave trade comes to Ripon Cathedral as part of this year’s Ripon Theatre Festival.
‘Incidents in the Life of An Anglican Slave’ is a dramatic play-poem written and performed by Desirée Baptiste, London-based writer and researcher, inspired by a rare letter written in the year 1723 which was discovered in the Church of England Archives within Lambeth Palace Library.
The letter was addressed from an anonymous Virginian slave to the then Archbishop of Canterbury and to King George I pleading for freedom, while reporting the horrors, abuses and realities of chattel slavery that was approved by the Anglican church at the time.
Baptiste’s dramatic interpretation will be performed on the evening of Tuesday, July 7 in the transept of Ripon Cathedral.
It will be followed by a Question-and-Answer session, intended to give the audience a chance to have a conversation about the development of the piece and the issues raised.
The piece has been performed at Chester Cathedral, Lambeth Palace Library, the Edinburgh Fringe and other venues in the UK and overseas, including in Barbados.
The Very Revd John Dobson, Dean of Ripon, said: “Once again we at Ripon Cathedral are delighted to be supporting Ripon Theatre Festival and to be hosting this play-poem which explores an important subject for our time.
“The slave trade and its abolition were things with which this nation was actively engaged.
“It is appropriate then, that this event should be taking place in the cathedral, remembering that the Christian Church believes profoundly that the Spirit of God leads us into all truth.
“The pursuit of truth can be uncomfortable but is ultimately liberating.”
Katie Scott, Ripon Theatre Festival Director, said: “We are grateful to Ripon Cathedral for enabling time and space to examine this important and unsettling time in history.”
For more information and to book tickets, please click here.