Paterson Joseph Brings SANCHO: AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE to BAM This Weekend

SANCHO: AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE, conceived, written, and performed by Paterson Joseph and co-directed by Simon Godwin, will make its New York premiere at BAM Fisher (Fishman Space, 321 Ashland Pl) this weekend, Dec 16-19 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec 20 at 3 p.m. Tickets: $25.

'SANCHO' features designs by Michael Vale, music and sound design by Ben Park and lighting design by Lucrecia Briceño.

Written and performed by Paterson Joseph (Royal Shakespeare Company's Julius Caesar, Winter/Spring 2013; HBO's The Leftovers), SANCHO: AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE is based on the remarkable true story of Charles Ignatius-the first man of African origin to cast a vote in Britain. Born on a slave ship in 1729 and named for the founder of the Jesuit order, Ignatius was taken in by three sisters who intended to keep him like Don Quixote's docile servant, Sancho Panza. Ignatius, however, pursued a daring and determined life, becoming a social satirist, actor, composer, man of letters, and the subject of a portrait by renowned 18th-century painter Thomas Gainsborough. SANCHO: AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE is a surprising, witty, and moving look at the small but vibrant African-British community in England in the 1700s. It tells the singular story of a man who achieved the distinction of being both wholly African and wholly British.

Paterson Joseph is a leading British actor seen most recently in New York as Brutus in the RSC's Julius Caesar at BAM. He has worked regularly at the National Theatre in London (Saint Joan, Royal Hunt for the Sun, The Emperor Jones, Elmina's Kitchen) the RSC (Julius Caesar, Don Juan, Troilus and Cressida, Love's Labour's Lost, King Lear) as well as the Royal Exchange, Gate, Almeida and Young Vic Theatres. His work for television includes BBC's The Hollow Crown (PBS), The Leftovers (HBO), and Danny Boyle's Babylon. Paterson is a season regular in Law and Order UK and Peep Show. he has also appeared in Doctor Who, Hustle, and No.1 Ladies Detective Agency (all BBC). In 2015 Paterson can be seen co-starring with Christopher Ecclestone in Safe House, a major four-part drama for ITV, as well as Apocalypse Slough, a new series for NBC/Universal.

Simon Godwin is a British theater director based in London, where he is an associate director of the Royal Court Theatre and associate artist at Bristol Old Vic. This year Godwin has directed Shaw's Man and Superman and Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem at the National Theatre; this summer he will direct Richard II for The Globe Theater. He made his Royal Shakespeare Company debut in 2014, directing Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona. Godwin was honored with an Evening Standard award in 2010 for direction of Nick Payne's Wanderlust (Royal Court) and an Evening Standard/Burberry Award for Emerging Director in 2012.

EVENT:

BAM Gathering: Sancho
With Paterson Joseph
Led by Bryan Doerries
Dec 17, post-show (free for same-day ticket holders)

Commissioned by the Oxford Playhouse and produced by Pemberley Productions and Oxford Playhouse.

Photo: Robert Day