Review: “Slave” an eye-opening message for Black History Month

An eye-opening performance of Slave: A Question of Freedom left Lowry audience stunned.

The play tells the story of Mende, a young girl born and raised in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, to convey the emphatic message: “No-one should be bought and sold.”

The performance coincided with Black History Month, allowing audiences to reflect on the history and issues of the campaign.

The play details the story of Mende and her family, who were kidnapped and sold separately by Arab slave traders in 1994. Mende was raped and abused by her captors.

The story shares the horrifying experiences as she was forced to serve a wealthy Arab family in Khartoum.

There Mende finds her friend, Kheko, who had been captured and sold by slave traders on the same day as Mende.

She learns of more women being raped and even their throats cut during the raid. Unborn babies were found cut from their mother’s womb.

The performances, particularly by Yolanda Ovide (Mende), and Ebony Feare (Kheko) showed how traumatic the real-life tragedy was.

Mende worked tirelessly for six years with no pay as she feared being beaten by her master Rahab.

In 2000, Mende was forced to move to serve a friend of Rahab in London, where she managed to break free and fight for her freedom.

Even after Mende escaped, there was still a struggle in seeking asylum, as the Home Office refused to accept that escaping from slavery would entitle someone to refugee status.

Finally, Mende managed to claim asylum and attained British citizenship.

The multi-award winning production has been able to teach about the crimes against humanity that have happened across the world not just in history.

Following the performance, the founder of the Human Trafficking Foundation and former MP, Anthony Steen said: “It is vital to raise awareness of the realities of these dreadful crimes.

“Theatre productions are able to do just that by engaging an audience, many of whom would not have otherwise been aware of the extent of this issue in Britain and encouraging them to take action.

It is frightening to think that slavery of this magnitude still occurs this century, and the impact of slavery is still being felt today.

• The production continues to the Tobacco Factory in Bristol, Riverside Studios in London and the Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot.

For more information, click here.