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Mary Slessor - Great White Ma
A World Premiere of a play written and directed by
Colin Wilson |
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Mary Slessor was born
December 2, 1848, near Aberdeen, Scotland,
the second
of seven siblings. Her father was a shoemaker and a
drunkard. She was raised in the Christian
Presbyterian faith. Amazingly, she was a timid if
impressionable child. Although she never married she
was engaged to a much younger man, Charles Morrison,
who is the male lead in Colin’s play.
In
1858 the Slessor family moved to Dundee and her
father and 3 siblings died over the next four years.
In 1859 Mary began part-time work in a weaving mill
before making this a full time occupation in 1862.
During 1864 she became very active in the
church and in 1876 she was accepted for training by
the Presbyterian Mission Society and sailed for
Calabar (part of what is now Nigeria). Much of the
funding came from Jamaica.
She spent the next thirty years in Africa, promoting
women’s rights and stamping out the horrible
practice of killing twin babies and murdering the
mother. She taught herself the local language, lived
among the natives and was revered by them. |
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She was the first white person (let alone a female) ever to
settle down with the fierce some Okyong tribe (became
Vice-Counsel to administer justice to them) and eventually
she was recognized as an outstanding missionary and began
writing articles touting abilities of Africans. Later she
administered to the Akpap, Aros and Ibibios tribes. In 1907
she had a major decline in health but still managed to open
a mission in Ikpe three years later. Although in 1914 she
was feted in Nigeria with the Silver Cross, it was a year
later she died. Despite all these achievements she has been
mainly overlooked, although she is the only woman in history
ever to appear on a Scottish bank note. This play hopes to
rectify this - it is an amazing, exciting, thrilling and
emotional ride.
This is local playwright
Colin Wilson’s sixth published work. Published last April by
UK Publisher, New Theatre Publications, it took six months
of research and a year of writing and re-writing.
Colin spent five months in Scotland, near Dundee
where Mary Slessor grew up, to get the feel of the workhouse
and tenement flats that were her early life. “I traced her
actual footsteps and was able to imagine I was alongside
her.” Colin said. Mary Slessor was a huge letter writer and
Colin was able to read them courtesy of Dundee Public
Library.
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Playing
Thursday,
Friday and Saturday October 1st to October 17th 2009
at The Prospect Playhouse
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Auditions - June 28 2009 3.00pm and
June 29 2009 7.00pm
Roles
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LEAD ROLES
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MARY
SLESSOR |
F -
AGE 20/50+ |
UK/SCOTTISH SMALL/PETITE |
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CHARLES MORRISON |
M -
AGE 20/50+ |
UK/SCOTTISH |
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EME
ETA |
F -
AGE 20/50 |
AFRICAN
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CHIEF EDEM |
M -
AGE 20/60 |
AFRICAN
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MAJOR ROLES
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MOTHER SLESSOR |
F -
AGE 40/70 |
UK/SCOTTISH |
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LOUISE ANDERSON |
F -
AGE 30/60 |
UK/SCOTTISH |
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WILLIAM ANDERSON |
M -
AGE 30/70 |
UK/SCOTTISH |
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WITCH DOCTOR |
M or
F AGE ANY |
ANY NATIONALITY |
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KING
EYO |
M -
AGE 20/60 |
AFRICAN
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MEDIUM ROLES*
(doubling with other roles)
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CHARLES OVENS |
M
- AGE 20/50 |
ANY NATIONALITY |
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MR
THOMSON |
M
- AGE 20/60 |
EUROPEAN/USA |
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MRS
THOMSON |
F
- AGE 20/60 |
EUROPEAN/USA |
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MAMMY FULLER |
F
- AGE 30/70 |
AFRICAN |
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MARTHA PEACOCK |
F
- AGE TEEN+ |
UK/SCOTTISH |
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KING
OKON |
M
- AGE 20/60 |
AFRICAN
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MINOR ROLES*
(doubling with other minor/chorus roles) |
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WIDOW GEARY |
F
- ANY AGE |
ANY NATIONALITY |
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FOUR
BULLIES |
M
- YOUNG TEENS+ |
ANY NATIONALITY |
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TWO
DEPUTIES |
M or
F ANY AGE |
AFRICAN
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TWO
MISSIONARIES |
M or
F ANY AGE |
EUROPEAN/USA |
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MOTHER WITH TWINS |
F
- ANY AGE |
AFRICAN
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JEAN
SLESSOR |
F
- TEEN+ |
AFRICAN
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ROBERT SLESSOR |
M
- 30/50 |
UK/SCOTTISH |
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DR
LIVINGSTON |
M
- 40/60 |
UK/SCOTTISH |
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JEAN’S FATHER |
M
- TEEN+
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AFRICAN
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EGBO
RUNNER |
M
- TEEN+
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AFRICAN
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TWO
GOV'T MEN |
M
- ANY AGE |
AFRICAN
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IPKE |
M
- YOUNG TEEN |
AFRICAN
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SIR
FREDERICK LUGARD |
M -
ANY AGE |
EUROPEAN/USA |
| CHORUS ROLES |
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VILLAGERS, BLIND MARY, ETIM, SLAVES, SHIP OFFICERS, OARSMEN
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ANY |
ANY
NATIONALITY |
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MINIMUM CASTING: TEN
ACTORS (5M 5F) WITH MULTIPLE ROLES
PREFERABLE
CASTING: TWENTY |
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Pre-booking recommended - call the box office on
949-5054... |
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From the
start it has been the theatre's business
to entertain people ... it needs no
other passport than fun.
BERTOLT BRECHT,
A Short Organum for the Theatre)
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