The British Slaves (4th Draft)

BATTERSEA WRITERS’ GROUP SCRIPT REPORT

TITLE: The British Slaves (4th Draft)
WRITER: Jason Young
FORMAT: Teleplay
DATE: Wednesday 22nd November 2006
READER: Mary Prince/Sarah read by Abby Stobart, Robert Wedderburn read by Christopher Streeks; Arthur Thistlewood read by Steve Watts; George Edwards read by Abby Stobart; Lord Chief Justice Sir Charles Abbott/Thomas Spence/John Brunt read by Annette Kellow; Elizabeth Heyrick read by Mary Clair Kelly; Lucy Townsend read by Anna Fiertag; Miss Salt/Usher/William Tunbridge read by Katie McKnight; James Wedderburn/Captain Johnson/Mr. Salt/Richard Tidd/Robert Adams read by Andrew McDonald; William Wilberforce read by Albert Clark; Sarah Lane read by Selina Fairbairn; Hetty/Richard Carlile/Parson/ Thomas Pringle/James Ing/Doctor/Rev. Chetwode Eustace read by Katie McKnight; William Davidson/Samuel Sharpe/Bussa/Daniel James read by Paul Etuka; John Stafford/John Harrison/Soldier/William Plush/Frank Myers/Ellis read by Canavan Connolly; Betty Wedderburn read by Miranda Magee; Martha Wilcox/Chapman/Solicitor-General read by Kathryn McGarr;; Richard Smithers/Policeman/Vicar/Preacher/Poor Black read by Annette Kellow; Narrated by Lily Brown.

SUMMARY
Set in the early 19th century, it is the story of the key role that three different people played, in one way or another, towards abolishing slavery in the British Caribbean in 1833. Their lives are interconnected: one lives the horrors of slavery, one writes about the horrors of slavery and one campaigns to end the horrors of slavery. It is a collaboration between the slave, the freed slave, and the women of England who fight to end slavery.

SYNOPSIS
In 1831, Mary Prince becomes the first black woman to publish a book in Britain as part of the Anti-Slavery Society’s campaign to abolish slavery immediately. As she dictates her history to Thomas Pringle, she emphasizes her determination on the plantation to see the end of slavery.

Simultaneously, we are linked to Robert Wedderburn – a free person of colour living in England. He has also determined in his mind to end slavery, and decides to join a radical working class group called the Spenceans to campaign for parliamentary reforms. When he parts company with them over differences, he goes on to set up his own Unitarian chapel to preach the coming of abolition, and publishes a pamphlet titled The Horrors of Slavery.

Elizabeth Heyrick, an English widower, has also determined in her mind that it is time to abolish slavery and writes a pamphlet titled Immediate, not Gradual Abolition. She sets up the Birmingham Ladies Society for the Relief of Negro Slaves, and gathers support from women across the country to set up their own societies and put pressure on the Anti-Slavery Society to push for an immediate abolition bill. This leads to the publication of The History of Mary Prince, and the subsequent 1833 Abolition of Slavery Act.

Slavery has ended, and Mary Prince can now return back to her husband in the British Caribbean as a free woman.