Jump to content

The Women of Llanrumney

From Tilcayo Cats, the lean encyclopaedia by Tilcayo Knowledge Systems

The Women of Llanrumney
Written byAzuka Oforka
Characters
SubjectSlavery
SettingThe Llanrumney Estate and Plantation at St. Mary, Jamaica, in 1765
Premiere
Date16 May 2024 (2024-05-16)
PlaceSherman Theatre, Cardiff
Directed byPatricia Logue
Original run16 May – 1 June 2024

The Women of Llanrumney is the debut play by writer Azuka Oforka, premiered at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff in 2024.[1] The play was later transferred to Theatre Royal Stratford East in London in 2025.[2] It was shortlisted for the 2024 Alfred Fagon Award[3] and made Oforka a joint-winner of the Stage Debut Award for Best Writer in the same year.[4]

Background

Writer and actress Azuka Oforka grew up in London but moved to Cardiff in 2012 and has resided in Wales since. She was inspired to write The Women of Llanrumney following her visit to Llanrumney Hall in Cardiff, where she saw a portrait of Captain Henry Morgan, described simply as "Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica" without any references to his role as an enslaver.[5] She wrote the play as a way to confront Britain and especially Wales's complicity in chattel slavery and colonialism, which is often hidden and forgotten.[6] Oforka had herself been unaware of the full extent of Morgan's legacy of slavery until she researched for the play.[5]

Synopsis

Following the death of Welshman Henry Morgan (taking place prior to the events of the play), his Llanrumney Estate and sugar plantation at St. Mary, Jamaica was inherited by his widow and cousin Elizabeth, who also became the owner of enslaved people at the estate.[7] Annie and her daughter Cerys are the enslaved housekeepers, the latter of whom has recently moved to the position from working on the field. Their future and potential prospect of freedom hangs in the balance when Elizabeth faces the prospect of losing her estate due to financial troubles.[8]

Characters

The characters of the play were:

  • Annie: an enslaved housekeeper at the Llanrumney Estate[9]
  • Cerys: Annie's daughter, an enslaved housekeeper at the estate who previously worked on the field[9]
  • Elizabeth: Annie and Cerys's enslaver and widow of Henry Morgan, from whom she inherited the estate[8]
  • Simon Taylor: a rival plantation owner and enslaver at St. Mary who offered to buy the Llanrumney Estate[8]
  • Tommy Flynn: an Irish former indentured servant at the Llanrumney Estate[8]
  • Mr Ainsworth: Elizabeth's potential suitor[8]

Production history

The Women of Llanrumney was premiered at Sherman Theatre in Cardiff on 16 May 2024 and ran until 1 June the same year.[1] The following year, the play was staged at Theatre Royal Stratford East in London, where it ran for four weeks from 19 March to 12 April.[10] This was followed by a revival production at Sherman from 24 April until 14 May, extended beyond the previously announced closing date of 10 May[2] due to popular demand.[11]

Cast members of the 2024 and 2025 productions were:

Character(s) Original 2024 production[12] 2025 production[2]
Sherman Theatre Theatre Royal Stratford East and Sherman Theatre
Annie Suzanne Packer
Cerys Keziah Joseph Shvorne Marks
Elizabeth Nia Roberts
Simon Taylor / Tommy Flynn / Mr Ainsworth Matthew Gravelle

Critical reception

The Women of Llanrumney enjoyed sold-out performances across its three runs and such was its popularity that the revival production at Sherman in 2025 was extended.[11] It received an average audience rating of 88% on Show-Score.[13] The play also received overwhelmingly positive reviews across major British publications, including The Telegraph,[9] The Evening Standard,[7] and WhatsOnStage.com.[14] Notably, in a 5 star review of the original production, Gareth Llŷr Evans from The Guardian praised the "astute and fearless performances" of the cast as well as the "conceptually brilliant" writing by Oforka, who he named as "an urgent and important voice in Welsh theatre".[15]

The play was mentioned by Welsh Labour politician Lee Waters in an open debate about arts and culture in Wales at the Senedd on 18 June 2025. He said:[16]

"Azuka Oforka, a new playwright, gave me a piece of theatre I will never forget. The Women of Llanrumney was a searing and intimate tale of slavery, its links with Wales, its disfiguring impact on people's souls and, ultimately, a rebellion against it. It spoke to me in a way a book or a song simply could not."

Awards and nominations

Year Awards Category Nominee(s) Result Note
2024 Alfred Fagon Award Azuka Oforka Shortlisted [3]
The Stage Debut Awards Best Writer Won [4]
2025 Black British Theatre Awards Best Female Lead in a Play Suzanne Packer Nominated [17]
Best Musical Director Stella-Jane Odoemelam Won [18]
Standard Theatre Awards Most promising playwright Azuka Oforka Nominated [19]
2026 Offie Industry and Inclusion Nominated [20]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Our 2024 Season". Sherman Theatre. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Cast and Creative team announced for THE WOMEN OF LLANRUMNEY". www.stratfordeast.com. 24 January 2025. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "2024 Award". Alfred Fagon Award. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "The Stage Debut Awards 2024 winners announced including Jack Wolfe, Grace Hodgett Young and Jeevan Braich". 29 September 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Slavery: Wales' links to Caribbean legacy explored in play". BBC News. 16 March 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  6. ↑ "Azuka Oforka". Alfred Fagon Award. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Curtis, Nick (26 March 2025). "Women of Llanrumney at Stratford East: bold, horrific and remarkably assured". The Standard. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 King, Stuart (26 March 2025). "Review: THE WOMEN OF LLANRUMNEY at Theatre Royal, Stratford East". West End Theatre News and Reviews. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Allfree, Claire (26 March 2025). "The Women of Llanrumney: A deft exploration of the brutalising impact of slavery". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 April 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  10. ↑ "The Women of Llanrumney". www.stratfordeast.com. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Extra dates added for Azuka Oforka's sold-out The Women of Llanrumney". Arts Council of Wales. 23 April 2025.
  12. ↑ "Final casting announced for world premiere of Azuka Oforka's The Women of Llanrumney". Sherman Theatre. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  13. ↑ "The Women of Llanrumney". Show Score. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  14. ↑ Jackson, Sophia A. (26 March 2025). "The Women of Llanrumney at Stratford East – review". WhatsOnStage.com. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  15. ↑ Evans, Gareth Llŷr (23 May 2024). "The Women of Llanrumney review – blistering dissection of slavery as the sugar crop fails". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  16. ↑ "Plenary 18/06/2025". Welsh Parliament. Paragraph 397. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  17. ↑ News Team (18 September 2025). "Black British Theatre Awards 2025 nominations announced". www.westendtheatre.com. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
  18. ↑ "The 2025 Black British Theatre Awards Winners Announced". officiallondontheatre.com. 27 October 2025. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  19. ↑ Zafar-Arif, Shehrazade (23 March 2026). "Winners announced for London Standard Theatre Awards 2025". West End Theatre News and Reviews. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  20. ↑ Raven, Paul (3 February 2026). "The OffWestEnd Awards 2026 nominations announced". www.westendtheatre.com. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
Retrieved from "https://tilcayo.cat/w/index.php?title=The_Women_of_Llanrumney&oldid=83768"
This page contains text imported from the English Wikipedia (source revision 1367357063). Its authors are credited under CC BY-SA 4.0: see the attribution record.