The Morning Call: In 'Sancho: An Act of Remembrance,' Paterson Joseph plays Charles
Ignatius Sancho, a slave who went on to become the first black person to
vote in Britain. The show will be presented at the Williams Center for
the Arts in Easton on Dec. 14. (ROBERT DAY / CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
EASTON — The story of the first black
person to vote in Britain will play out on the stage of Williams Center
for the Arts in Easton.
Actor Paterson Joseph presents his one-man show, "Sancho: An Act of Remembrance," on Dec. 14.
In his original play, Joseph tells the life of Charles Ignatius Sancho, who was born on a slave ship in 1729.
"Ten
years ago I had the idea of doing a costume drama with a black
protagonist," says Joseph, who is featured in HBO's "The Leftovers."
During his research, he came across a painting of Sancho by English portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough.
"The painting was very striking," Joseph says, "but I had never heard anything about him."
He
found information about him in the book "Black England" by Gretchen
Gerzina, and discovered Sancho had been a musician, composer, actor and
inveterate letter writer.
"I fell in love with him," Joseph says.
"He was grossly fat, had a speech impediment and suffered from gout. But
he was this African man in the 18th century who accomplished so many
things."
Hollis Ashby, director of the Williams Center for the
Arts Performance Series, was fascinated by a play about "this very real
individual who, frankly, most of us know nothing about."
"I was
intrigued by what Paterson Joseph had to say about the necessity of
investigating the lives of black Britons to understand his own history,
and how those lives have shaped identity in black Britain today," Ashby
says. "Charles Ignatius Sancho had a fascinating life and holds a
significant place in British history."
Joseph didn't think of
himself as a writer, but was so inspired by what he found that he began
to write what would become his first play.
"It was a pretty daunting task," he says. "The details of his life are very sketchy."
Sancho's
mother likely died in childbirth. He was eventually sent by his owner
to live with three spinsters in England, where Joseph says he was
treated as "a kind of a pet."
He then was taken in by the Duke of Montagu, who "liked his cheekiness" and made him his valet, Joseph says.
In
the Duke's household, Sancho learned to read, play music and speak
French. He started writing music and plays and even wrote for the
Shakespearean actor David Garrick.
When he retired, the Duke
helped Sancho open a grocery store. It was as a proprietor of a business
that Sancho became eligible to vote, in 1780, Joseph says. He also was
vocal about his political opinions.
"He became a real hero," Joseph says.
In writing the play, Joseph relied on Sancho's many letters to capture the man's "voice and wit."
"He was such a raconteur," he says. "He made up words and told jokes."
The
play also provides historical perspective on why abolition in England
was so slow in coming. Although England abolished the slave trade in
1807, the country continued to use slaves, Joseph says.
"The
British had this idea they were heroes in the anti-slavery movement but
they also were beneficiaries of the slavery trade," he says. "It was a
bit of a thorn in the flesh."
'SANCHO: AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE'
•What: A one-man play written and performed by actor Paterson Joseph about the first black man to vote in Britain.
•When: 8 p.m. Dec. 14
•Where: Williams Center for the Arts, Lafayette College, 317 Hamilton St., Easton
•How much: $29
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