Photos: First Look At Rex Obano's THE HAMLET VOYAGE At Re:Verse Theatre

The Hamlet Voyage: A new play by Rex Obano, long-listed for the Alfred Fagon Award, had its world premiere on board the Matthew ship at the 50th Anniversary Bristol Harbour Festival 16-17 July, followed by its London premiere at the Bridewell Theatre 20-23 July with Press Night on Friday 22 July, 7.30pm.

In 1607, sailors on the first English voyage to reach India stopped off in Sierra Leone for supplies and to recover from scurvy. It was recorded in the ship logs that during this stop the sailors performed Hamlet for the local West African dignitaries. This begs the question...why?

Re:Verse Theatre presents The Hamlet Voyage, a new play by Rex Obano recently long-listed for the Alfred Fagon award (one of the most prestigious awards championing the work of Black British playwrights). The play examines a unique cross-cultural encounter that took place before England became deeply involved in the Atlantic slave trade, before the age of British imperialism, and before Shakespeare became a global name.

Writer Rex Obano: "To be writing about the first recorded performance of Shakespeare outside Europe is a very exciting prospect indeed. I have always been interested in writing Black British historical drama especially those stories that are little known, buried deep in the annals of history and confined to memory. Such stories as this explore Britain's past but also tell us about Britain's future."

Director Ben Prusiner: "What is so unique about this story is that it takes place before England became deeply involved in colonialism or the slave trade, and so we see these three cultures (English, Temne and Mughal) encountering each other for the first time. We are still critical of English colonial ambitions, but the play also presents an opportunity to showcase storytelling, music and theatre from West Africa, South Asia and Western Europe."

Photo Credit: Dan Fearon Designs