Paterson Joseph as Sancho
Photo Credit: Robert Day
Paterson Joseph as Sancho
Photo Credit: Robert Day
Photo Credit: Robert Day
Paterson Joseph as Sancho
Photo Credit: Robert Day
Photo Credit: Robert Day
Composer Ignatius Sancho is
featured at AfriClassical.com
Broadway World
With a breezy patter, Sancho regales us with, and acts out, his
incredible story. Born on a slave ship, he is orphaned after his mother
dies and his father commits suicide. Because of his easy-going
temperament, he is whisked away to serve as the plaything for three
maiden sisters in Greenwich. Balking at the lack of intellectual
stimulation - reading is forbidden to him - he runs away to serve as
butler to Duchess Mary Montagu, who nurtures his inquisitive mind with
an education of the highest order. Upon her death, he is left with a
handsome annuity, which he gambles away.
Jumping forward in time, Sancho speaks of his family life, his pleasure
as a man of letters, and his new job as a grocery shop owner. But
something is not right. Smoldering beneath his usual suave manner, is a
twinge of agitation. It turns out that he will vote today, making him
the first Briton of African descent to do so. As a Black man and former
slave, this option is only available to Sancho because he is a
financially independent male with property. But he cannot locate his
papers which declare his status. Undeterred, Sancho shows up anyway. If
he is challenged and found wanting, he will face imprisonment. The
challenge comes, and the constabulary are summoned to cart him away for
voting without proper papers. Just in time, his son arrives bearing the
missing documentation. With tears in his eyes, exuding gratitude to the
heavens, Sancho takes these papers, kisses them and declares his vote.
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