So, back in early November, a play by Rex Obano, called The Moors of England, was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
The play imagines the life of Fortunatus, a black servant of Sir Robert Cecil's, during the period at the end of Elizabeth I's reign, when Cecil was being lobbied by Sir Thomas Sherley and Caspar Van Senden to allow them to transport 'Blackamoors' out of the realm. (You can read about the history of this episode here.)
I was honoured when Rex asked me to introduce the play and when you listen (below), you'll hear my 60 second intro at the start.
We also persuaded the director that it would be good to record a discussion between us exploring the wider context of the play, as much of this history is new to audiences. You can listen to our 20 minute discussion on BBC Sounds here, and read more about the Black Tudors in my book.
And, Rex and I are continuing to work together to dramatise the lives of the Black Tudors. He has been selected, alongside Catherine Johnson, to work with Silverprint Pictures on developing my book into a TV Drama series - very exciting! I'll be meeting up with them in the New Year to talk about potential storylines- watch this space for more news on that front!
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy listening to The Moors of England...
The play imagines the life of Fortunatus, a black servant of Sir Robert Cecil's, during the period at the end of Elizabeth I's reign, when Cecil was being lobbied by Sir Thomas Sherley and Caspar Van Senden to allow them to transport 'Blackamoors' out of the realm. (You can read about the history of this episode here.)
I was honoured when Rex asked me to introduce the play and when you listen (below), you'll hear my 60 second intro at the start.
We also persuaded the director that it would be good to record a discussion between us exploring the wider context of the play, as much of this history is new to audiences. You can listen to our 20 minute discussion on BBC Sounds here, and read more about the Black Tudors in my book.
And, Rex and I are continuing to work together to dramatise the lives of the Black Tudors. He has been selected, alongside Catherine Johnson, to work with Silverprint Pictures on developing my book into a TV Drama series - very exciting! I'll be meeting up with them in the New Year to talk about potential storylines- watch this space for more news on that front!
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy listening to The Moors of England...
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