Culture Watch: The Women of Llanrumney
A powerful insight into the history of slavery in Jamaica.
Written by Azuka Oforka, The Women of Llanrumney is a hard-hitting play that explores the dynamics of slavery in 18th century Jamaica.
The drama is set in the big house of Llanrumney - a sugar plantation owned by the Morgan family of Wales.
Elisabeth Morgan (Nia Roberts) is the owner of the plantation and the failure of her sugar crop sees her contemplating desperate measures with a succession of suitors (all played by Matthew Gravelle). But it's the stories of Annie (Suzanne Packer) and Cerys (Shvorne Marks) that are front-and-centre - are mother and daughter who are "owned" by the Morgan family, their fates determined by the vagaries of a family's fortune.
Directed by Patricia Logue, this is a two-act play that clearly sets out who these people are and the choices that they're forced to make in order to survive in challenging circumstances.
There's not many laughs, but life was tough in 18th century Jamaica, and it's a period of history that we need to talk about as its consequences continue to echo around us.
While the strokes are broad - and heavy on exposition - the play does effectively paint a picture of some of the different types of people that populated Jamaica at this time - their motivations, their ambitions, their flaws, and their trauma.
The Women of Llanrumney is on at Stratford East theatre in London until 12 April.
