Bish Bash Bosh Productions presents a UK Tour of Alan M. Kent’s award-winning play, The Tin Violin. The true story of Guinean slave Joseph Emidy, who made his way from Africa to Cornwall in 1800 and became a famous violinist and composer. They will be on stage at Bridport Arts Centre on Saturday 9 June, 8pm
Alan M. Kent’s play is a thoughtful and moving exploration of creative and cultural identity in a world much larger than ours is today. Winner of the 2009 ‘Hoyler An Gof’ award for best drama, the show also features live music from the People’s String Foundation of Cornwall and choreography by C-Scape Dance Company. A play rich with dialect, dance and decadence.
Born in Guinea, West Africa in 1775, at the height of European colonialism, Joseph ‘Josh’ Emidy was first captured as a slave by the Portuguese, then kidnapped by the British Navy, serving as a fiddler on The Indefatigable during the French wars. Landing at Falmouth, Cornwall and being presented with a magical tin violin made by an illiterate miner, Emidy became a musical genius of the early nineteenth century. A magical re-imagining of Joseph’s journey, from the oppression of slavery to encounters with mad sailors, the potty queen of Portugal and a chorus of Cornish fishwives, The Tin Violin is a thoughtful, moving and funny exploration of identity, creativity and belonging.
Writer Alan M. Kent says:
“Emidy’s story is one that I had been longing to write a play about. One of the figures now celebrated during Black History Month, parts of his life are well recorded, but other periods are hidden. We have had to ensure continuity from his berimbau-playing and Capoeira adventures in Brazil to his time in early nineteenth-century Cornwall. The real loss is that none of his compositions have survived – the story of which we tell in the drama.“
Tickets are available ffrom the box office £12/£9 members/£5 concs. Call 01308 424204 or visit www.bridport-arts.com for more information.
