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Monday, December 14, 2015

In Context: Sancho: An Act of Remembrance



Sancho: An Act of Remembrance, featuring actor Paterson Joseph, comes to BAM on December 16. Context is everything, so get even closer to the production with this curated selection of articles and videos related to the show. After you've attended the show, let us know what you thought below and by posting on social media using #RememberSancho.

Program Notes

Sancho: An Act of Remembrance (PDF)

Read

Article
On Thomas Gainsborough’s Portrait of Sancho (BBC)
Refinement. That’s what all of the genteel folk painted by the distinguished painter had in common.

Article
Paterson Joseph on Sancho (The Guardian)
The British actor didn’t discover his fascinating subject until 2007.

Article
Author’s Note on Sancho (SanchoThePlay.com)
“However much you try and make the African-American history a facsimile of the Afro-British journey,” writes Paterson Joseph, “you run into the problem of detail.”

Watch & Listen

Video
Behind the Scenes: Sancho (The Kennedy Center)
Paterson Joseph talks about the origins of his latest project.

Worthwhile Words

Charles Ignatius is quite simply a perfect example, and by no means the only one in British history, of the strange, sometimes uncomfortable relationship that the UK has always had with its colonies and colonial peoples. On the one hand exploitation was rife and unbridled, and on the other, the natural and common humanity of the British would not allow them to fully embrace the horrors of the American model of slavery, at least on British soil. And so Sancho’s life was filled with the joy and pain of being at once free and simultaneously caged within his race and place in eighteenth-century society. 
—Paterson Joseph

Now your turn...

What did you think? Has your conception of life as a black Briton in the 18th century been turned on its head? Tell us what's on your mind in the comments below and on social media using #RememberSancho.

3 comments:

  1. A beautifully presented engrossing work of drama and history. The way Paterson Joseph engaged the audience and enacted the history of Sancho was deeply moving.

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  2. Charles Ignatius Sancho who lived in 18th C England at the time of the Quaker antislavery motto " Am i not a man and a brother" has been vividly reincarnated by Patterson Joseph a british actor . Mr Joseph who made an extraordinary debut at BAM a couple of years ago as Brutus( in an RSC all black cast of Julius Caesar ) returns for another mesmerizing performance having himself ,on this occasion ,also researched the life of Sancho and written this totally engrossing one man play .It is worthy of widespread dissemination in the USA .

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  3. I was blown away by the acting the story Mr. Joseph was just "BRILIANT" LOVED IT !!!!

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