Incidents in the Life of an Anglican Slave

Beautifully told, and clearly impeccably researched, this is a thought provoking show that I’d recommend to anyone.

A brilliant performance by Desiree Baptiste, truly excellent virtuosity. This is a fascinating and disturbing true story that needs to be heard. Bravo

As others have said, an excellent poetic dramatisation, based on true events, that pulls you into the reality and cruelty of slavery in both Virginia and Barbados, and highlights the relationship of historical slavery to our lives today. It's a little ameliorated with humorous references to the contortions in the language we use today. Throughout, the importance of the written word is highlighted, and the power that literacy confers. Powerfully acted. Highly recommended.

This was a fantastic show. The story has you hooked from the beginning, a fictionalised account of the life of a real slave who courageously wrote to the Archbishop of Lindon in 1723. The real letter is in Lambeth Palace. The story, told in rhyme, is riveting and highlights the horrors of slavery on one woman and how it pervades all of our pasts. The writer actually performs the play, and it is a tour de force. The story, and the writer/performer, Desiree, need to be better known. A real highlight of this year's fringe.

An incredibly thought provoking, incisive, historical perspective behind a 300y old letter delivered by an enthusiastic single female research historian storyteller.

It is non- linear narrative with storytelling at its best, as the narrator, with minimal props, takes her audience on a journey through the life, trials and tribulations of an American slave girl, tentatively connecting her heritage to both Scotland and the monarchy in the finale.

She keeps her audience gripped with anticipation, yet warmed by the small personal triumphs in the life of this self-educated Mulatto female slave, as she faces various forms of oppression and tragedy, while navigating her way in a society whose ruling class recognised and feared the power of education and the pen in slave hands.

An entertaining, clever, historically educational, thought-provoking story, told with clarity, passion, aplomb and sensitivity, that triggers a plethora of questions, ripely appropriate for current times when tacit compliance / involvement of the State, the Monarchy, the Church, and issues of acknowledgement, cover-up, apology and reparation loom large and provoke debate. A MUST see!….

Ruth
(Citizen of the World & Member of the Colonial Diaspora)

From the very start of this one-woman play, you’re gripped by compelling story of an unnamed slave-woman’s experiences in colonial Virginia and then Barbados in the 1700’s. The story of the play is based on a real letter written to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the protagonist, at great personal risk. The performance by Desiree Baptiste is a tour de force, flawlessly delivered with passion and verve; I was riveted for the full hour. It’s clearly a very well-researched story, and one that will stay with me long after the performance. Highly recommended for those with an interest in the history of our colonial past.