Black History Month is fast approaching, and at a time when black history is being made “Black Voices,” a play written by Felix Fleming, is very appropriate. The play is an account of slavery experiences as told by people who were young slaves at the time.

Mr. Felix Fleming

Mr Fleming, who had been away from Anguilla for a few years, explained that he always produced a play for black history month whether he was at home or abroad and now that he is back in Anguilla, and the United States has just sworn in an African American President, he sees it fit to put on a major Black History Month production.

“The play starts from teaching of the slavery experience, from its embryonic stage, which is done through stories of people who have experienced it. Most of these stories emanate out of interviews with people that were already in the late thirties and forties. These are people who may have been ten and twelve years old when the emancipation proclamation was made. Their physical account is what we are focusing on and we drew from those stories and interpreted them in our own words, based on the history of the slave experience. We have moved the play forward theatrically through song and dance to the time of Barack Obama,” said Mr Fleming.

When asked about the type of cast that will be putting on this performance Mr Fleming responded saying, “There are some people that have been involved with the theatre for many years, and I’m really trying to get them to come back and share their talents because theatre is a part of our lives that should not be omitted. The arts are important in a developing community so I am trying to get some of these people back. The ages of the cast range from seventy to six and everything in between.” Mr Fleming also said he knows how difficult it could be working with a large cast but he really wanted to get the youth of Anguilla involved. The play will be staged at the Campus B auditorium on February 27 and 28 at 8:00 pm, and a matinee will be held for the schools on Monday March 2 at 2:00 pm.

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