Paterson Joseph’s one-man show Sancho - An Act of Remembrance will receive its first full-scale production at Birmingham REP before a USA tour that includes dates at Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
Conceived, written, performed and co-directed by Joseph, the production celebrates the life of Charles Ignatius Sancho which was full of “surprising, moving and funny twists”.
Sancho was born on a slave ship in 1729. He became a fellow actor and friend of David Garrick and the first black person of African origin to vote in Britain. He dared to act, write, sing, dance and voice his political opinion with wit and charm.
Paterson Joseph’s stage credits include numerous roles for the RSC and National Theatre, including Brutus in Julius Caesar for the RSC in 2012 and Brutus Jones in Eugene O'Neill’s Emperor Jones at the National in 2007.
Simon Godwin co-directs. His directing credits include George Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman at the National Theatre earlier in 2015 and Eugene O'Neill’s Strange Interlude at the National in 2013.
He is an associate director at the Royal Court and an associate artist at Bristol Old Vic.
Designer of Sancho - An Act of Remembrance is Michael Vale and sound designer is Ben Park. It runs in The Studio at Birmingham REP from Tuesday until Friday.