Overview
16 May - 1 Jun 2024Pricing
Choose Your Price: £16 - £20 (Previews £12 - £16). Under 25s Half Price. Concessions £2 off.
Further details
- Language: English
- Space: Studio
This show deals with slavery, contains racial slurs from the start, and scenes which audience members may find distressing, references to violence and abuse and features strong language. For more information click here.
- Thu 23 May - 7:30pm Captioned
- Thu 30 May - 2pm Captioned
- Wed 29 May - 7:30pm Audio Described
- Thu 30 May - 7:30pm BSL interpreted
Wales’ colonial past is confronted head-on in Azuka Oforka’s devastating historical drama.
Set in 18th century colonial Jamaica, Azuka Oforka’s searing new play powerfully explores the experience of women during slavery – those who benefited from it, those who were brutalised by it and those who fought to destroy it. The Women of Llanrumney puts Wales’s role in slavery centre stage; illuminating a hidden chapter of Welsh history.
The story:
Llanrumney plantation. Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica. 1765.
Annie and Cerys are enslaved by the Morgan family from Wales. Their future hangs in the balance when Elizabeth Morgan is faced with losing her plantation. Fearing what could lie ahead, Annie does everything she can to secure her position in the Great House. But sooner or later, with a storm of rebellion building, Annie will have to face up to the horror and trauma, including her own.
The Women of Llanrumney announces Azuka Oforka as a major new voice in Welsh theatre. This searing new play is a must see for those looking for powerful, serious drama.
Five things to know about The Women of Llanrumney:
1. The Llanrumney plantation was owned by Sir Henry Morgan. Morgan’s name today is well known but his role in the slave trade is perhaps less well known. Originally from Cardiff’s Llanrumney area (at the time part of Monmouthshire), Morgan was an enslaver, owning three plantations in Jamaica. One of those plantations was named after his birthplace and is where our play is set.
2. The Women of Llanrumney is the full-length debut play by Azuka Oforka, an alumnus of Sherman Theatre’s Unheard Voices writer development programme.
3. Sherman Theatre Associate Artist Patricia Logue directs this world premiere production, returning to the Sherman following her hugely acclaimed production of Katherine Chandler’s Lose Yourself in 2019.
4. Designer Stella-Jane Odoemelam transforms the Studio spectacularly into the fading grandeur of the Great House.
5. Whilst The Women of Llanrumney depicts much horror and pain, there is humour and wit to be found amongst the cruelty and brutality in Azuka Oforka’s extraordinary play.
Seating in the Studio is unreserved. Choose Your Price allows you to select how much you would like to pay for your seat.
29 May, 7.30pm: audio description by Michelle Perez. Audio Flyer
30 May, 7.30pm: BSL interpretation by Nikki Champagnie Harris
The Women of Llanrumney has been featured in The Guardian’s “Best theatre, dance and comedy tickets to book in 2024” and WhatsOnStage’s “Top new plays to see in 2024”.