The History of Mary Prince - A British Slave

BATTERSEA WRITERS’ GROUP WORKSHOP REPORT


TITLE: The History of Mary Prince – A British Slave
WRITER: Jason Young
FORMAT: Stage Play
DATE: Wednesday 17th May 2006
READER: Lisa Philips as Mary Prince, Natasha Lewis as Susannah Strickland, Elizabeth Knight reading Thomas Pringle.

SUMMARY
A chronicle of the experiences of a slave woman on a British plantation.

SYNOPSIS
Mary Prince is born in the British colony of Bermuda in the year 1788 as the property and pet of the Williams family. She is auctioned off with her sisters in 1800 where they are separated from their mother. She witnesses flogging and abuse for five years, and is then sold on to another plantation owner in 1805 on Turks Island. Here, she becomes the object of both physical and sexual abuse. In 1815, she is yet again sold on to another plantation owner by the name of John Wood. Whilst in his service she meets her future husband, Daniel James, and they get married in a Moravian church during Christmas 1826.
The Woods family takes Mary to England with them in 1827 to wash their clothes and absorb more of their abuse. She decides to run away and seek solace amongst the Moravian missionaries who signpost her to the Anti-Slavery Society. The secretary, Thomas Pringle, hires her as a house servant, and whilst in his employment she dictates to him her experiences as a slave which is published in 1831 titled The History of Mary Prince. She is the first black woman to be published in Britain.

ANALYSIS
There is a lot of monologue, but you need to bring it out by bringing other people like Susannah Strickland and Thomas Pringle in. The characters on the plantation need to be expanded, particularly Mr. I who sexually abuses Mary. This is more of a film than a stage play. A flashback is needed for the sexual abuse scene. Begin with Strickland and Pringle and end with them. Strickland changes by the end, but does Pringle change? You could expand the end in a different way. We need to empathise with the plantation owner, which means that he needs dialogue. Where do you want to go with it? We need to enter more into Strickland’s world because she is a bit superfluous. Prince has a superb monologue, but the rest of the characters need to be drawn out. There has to be room for Strickland to go on a journey and change. Because it takes place over two days, Strickland can be stretched a bit more. Pringle comes across as quite intelligent. Strickland needs to be more resistant to Prince. Either go in depth and dramatise the history, or expand the relationships. Sound effects may help, although there will be chains as props. The monologues are really absorbing. How should she say it? Should she speak with an accent? Prince would need to be encouraged during her talk. Show her almost breaking down and demonstrating that she can’t go on. Does Strickland help her to move on? Would she be apprehensive about relaying her sexual abuse? At this point, you open the door to the relationships between Pringle and Strickland. Strickland has to get involved with her. There should be a cliff-hanger at the end of the first day.