The Royal Exchange Theatre plays host to Liberation, a brand new political drama based on true events, written by Ntombizodwa Nyoni and directed by Monique Touko. Liberation takes a look behind the scenes on the historical meeting of anti-colonial activists who dream of liberating Africa from her colonial oppressors.
Trinidadian George Padmore hopes that the future of Africa will be decided when scholars and activists from Africa and of African descent all meet together at the fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester, 1945. But despite hoping to promote solidarity, tempers flare as disputes, division and personal ambition threatens to unravel the congress’s mission.
Liberation at the Royal Exchange Theatre
The plot follows the various activists that were speakers at the congress in Chorlton-on-Medlock Town Hall. Veteran activists George Padmore (Eamonn Walker) and his second wife London-born activist, Dorothy Pizer (Nicola Stephenson) welcome to Manchester co-organisers, the enigmatic Jomo Kenyatta (Tonderai Munyevu) of Kenya and forceful Jamaican Activist Amy Ashwood-Garvey (Pamela Nomvete). The old guard are also joined by new blood such as Padmore’s mentee Kwame Nkrumah (Eric Kofi Abrefa), who has grand designs of surpassing his mentor and freeing the Gold Coast from colonial rule. Nkrumah is joined by his friends, wise Ghanaian law graduate Joe Appiah (Joshua Roberts-Mensah) and charismatic medical student Makumalo Hlubi (Rudolphe Mdlongwa) from South Africa. A late arrival is the sharp and quick-witted Alma La Badie (Leonie Elliot), from Jamaica who campaigns on behalf of orphans of British women and African-American soldiers who left after the war.
Delving into Manchester’s history through theatre
Rounding out the cast is former champion middleweight boxer turned activist, Mancunian Len Johnson (Tachia Newell) of mixed Irish and Sierra Leonean heritage, whose career was unjustly ended after the introduction of the colour bar, and local born secretary, Betty Dorman (Bex Smith), her growing relationship with Kwame causes fractures during the congress.
The play shows the truth behind the lives of the activists and doesn’t shy away from their personal conflicts, from generational gaps, clashes over nationality, to the place of African women within the movement. A true strength of the play is how it shows they are real people “with rough edges that cut” rather than a perfect image from a history book.
“Powerful performances throughout from the whole cast”
Another strength of the play is the characters with excellent dialogue on display, that combines wonderfully with powerful performances throughout the whole cast as the historical characters are brought to life on stage. The performance is so real it feels more like it transcends a play and more like the curtain is being pulled back on a landmark moment in Africa and Manchester’s shared history.
Each character gets even time to shine and its always a joy to see them play off each other whether its Kwame and his friends casually throwing venomous barbs at each other, an emotional meeting between husband and wife at the Padmore household, to a powerful confrontation between Amy Ashwood-Garvey and Alma La Badie on the future of the cause and a woman’s place within it.
Leonie Elliot and Pamela Nomvete both shine as Alma La Badie and Amy Ashwood-Garvey, two powerful women trying to navigate the male dominated field of political activism. Eric Kofi Abrefa gives an impressively nuanced performance as the ambitious Kwame especially whenever he shares the stage with the equally commanding presence of Eamonn Walker as George Padmore. Tachia Newell delivers a confident performance as Len Johnson, while Tonderai Munyevu, Nicola Stephenson and Bex Phillips are always a highlight whenever they are on stage. Joshua Roberts-Mensah and Rudolphe Mdlongwa are also impressive especially when both are able to flex their skillful comedic timing.
A brilliantly minimalist set
The brilliantly minimalist set design (by Paul Willis) works wonders to keep the focus on the actors, with a hexagonal LED screen that sets the scene with images from post-war Manchester, photos of historical moments to character introductions. The screen even impressively lowers to become the bar at the Cosmopolitan. Also excellent is the costume design (by Sunny Dolat) allows each character to stand out and fit the time period. Accompanying the play is music composed by Ife Ogunjobi that gives the show a unique beat and rhythm.
The show is well paced and is structured in a two act structure with run time of two hours with a twenty minute interval in between.
A gripping political drama that both educates and entertains while it sheds light on the lives, laughs and loves of the real people behind the Fifth Pan-African Congress. Liberation is ultimately a story of hope and of the importance of community and identity in a play that highlights the real struggles and sacrifices of those who fought to free themselves from imperialist oppression.
Tickets for Liberation at the Royal Exchange Theatre
Produced by the Royal Exchange Theatre and Factory International, Manchester, Liberation is showing at the Royal Exchange Theatre until the 26th July.
Tickets can be purchased by clicking here
