African Snow

Yesterday me and my mum went to Trafalgar Studios, London, to see African Snow - Riding Lights' first West End production, a play about Olaudah Equiano and John Newton, and the horrors of the slave trade. The play is mainly biographical, telling the story of Equiano's life interweaved with the outline of Newton's history. Olaudah Equiano, kidnapped with his sister from a high-status family in Africa, separated from her, and sold as a slave, after many years and much cruelty managed to work his way to freedom. Having been a slave in England he had learned to speak, read and write English, and he later wrote a book: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself.

Probably the thing that most struck me about the play was the way that Olaudah's name was stolen from him when he became a slave. He is re-named Gustavus Vassa by a British Naval captain who calls Olaudah Equiano a "nonsense name". Thoughout the play Olaudah reminds us of his real name, pronouncing it in a beautiful, musical way. His memory of his sister throughout the play is emphasised by the repetition of her cries of "Olaudah!" as she begged not to be separated from him. Olaudah's name, in African Snow, is symbolic of his freedom. As a slave he is known as Gustavus Vassa - he is dismayed at being baptised as Gustavus Vassa - but, as soon as he purchases his freedom, he joyfully reverts to his true name, Olaudah Equiano.

John Newton comes across as a very wretched character; and with good reason. He was master of slave ships in his time, even after his conversion to Christianity. I'm not sure at what point in his life he wrote the words to our well-known hymn Amazing Grace, but African Snow certainly portrays Newton as a man who was not able to find peace after all that he has done. "I was young," he pleads, and, "I didn't see."

And us? What don't we see, today? I had been thinking that African Snow might pose a more direct challenge to its audience: there is still slavery in the world today - what are you going to do about it? The play does not. But in the back pages of the programme we do find a challenge. "Tonight's play takes us back more than 200 years, when there were four million slaves in the world. Now there are over twenty million." We could all be John Newtons ourselves, without even realising it.

Want to do something about it? Various websites (listed in the programme!) provide various ideas (e.g. lobbying MPs, spreading awareness, signing an international declaration/petition). Try visiting www.stopthetraffik.org, www.antislavery.org or www.setallfree.net. The Church Mission Society website also has information about modern day slavery and ideas of what you could do to help with the campaign against it.