Produced by East of West Theatre Company in association with The Alchemist.

THE SLAVE

by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka)

The Tristan Bates Theatre

11th - 29th October 2016

Press Night Wednesday 12th October 2016.

"Whatever the core of our lives. Whatever the deceit.

We live where we are and seek nothing but ourselves."

A rare, intimate revival of a seminal play set in the era of the USA Civil

Rights movement which explores issues that remain as relevant and

important today as when it was first published.

LeRoi Jones' play The Slave is angry, passionate and unapologetic. This European premiere by Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka) is shocking in its ideas, language, and honest anger. First published and performed in 1964, this one-act play is an examination of the tension between black and white people in contemporary America, starting when African-American Walker Vessels visits the home of Grace, his ex-wife and her new husband Easley who are both white.

From the Slave Trade to the Civil Rights Movement and into the modern day with the Black Lives Matter campaign and our continuing concern over citizenship, identity and cultural belonging, Baraka's The Slave is as relevant today as when it was first written.

Staged in Black History Month, the production will feature a varied programme with post- show Q and A's on the 13th and 20th October, a panel debate with established writers and supporters of BAME theatre on Sunday 23rd, 12pm - 2pm and educational workshops. A Spring tour for 2017 is planned and casting will be announced July 2016.

Director Rachel Heyburn, (Pussy Riot, Banksy's Dismaland) Designer Sophie Thomas (RSC),

Lighting Designer Tim Boyd (National Theatre, Oxford Playhouse, Peter Brook's The

Mahabharata) Producers East of West Theatre Company www.eastofwesttheatre.com

The Alchemist Theatre Company www.thealchemisttheatre.co.uk

Listing

11th - 29th October 2016 Tristan Bates Theatre. Box Office: 020 3841 6611

boxoffice@tristanbatestheatre.co.uk 1A Tower St, Covent Garden WC2H 9NP. www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk

PRESS CONTACT: THESLAVEPRODUCTION@GMAIL.COM PRODUCER 07837155328