
What are the themes of your play?
The Women of Llanrumney is a play set on a sugar plantation in 18th-century colonial Jamaica. The play explores the experiences of women, both enslaved and enslaver, during that time. The main themes are the brutality of chattel slavery and surviving that cruel, oppressive system. Resistance and rebellion. The legacy of colonialism, confronting Britain’s complicity in slavery
Why did you write it and why now?
I was inspired to write The Women of Llanrumney because I feel that there is a
great lack of acknowledgement and understanding about the British colonial system of chattel slavery. There is even less awareness of Wales’s link to slavery and empire. My play is set on the Llanrumney plantation, which was a real place established by Captain Henry Morgan, who named it after his Welsh hometown. There are so many streets and buildings named after enslavers, there are portraits and statues in honour of them, but there is little understanding of the inhumane system they participated in and rarely any acknowledgement of their victims. Basically, anger fuelled me to write this play. Rage triggered by this constant erasure inspired me to write a play that shone an unflinching spotlight on the lives of enslaved people, specifically women.
Which playwrights are you influenced by and why?
Arthur Miller. The Crucible is one of my favourite plays, I love how he powerfully dramatized real history and how it transcends it’s very specific time and place to resonate with a contemporary audience. I’m also a massive fan of Roy Williams, debbie tucker green and Katori Hall (to name but a few!)
What do you hope to achieve as a playwright?
Continued opportunity to learn, grow and hone my craft while telling stories that are really important to me. I aspire to write plays that stand the test of time, modern classics!
Reviews –
https://www.thereviewshub.com/women-of-llanrumney-the-sherman-theatre-cardiff/