This production at the Royal Exchange theatre is the World Premiere as part of Manchester International Festival 2025, written by Ntombizodwa Nyoni and directed by Monique Touko, composer Ife Ogunjobi (Ezra Collective).
It tells the story of a real event in Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester in October 1945, the 5th Pan-African Congress, in which political activists and idealistic academics and scholars come together to discuss and debate the issues and future of Africa post 2nd World War. This was not a subject we had ever heard of before, so were were most intrigued to find out more. The atmosphere in the theatre before the performance was fantastic, clearly a very excited and engaged crowd.
The staging and set design was a simple parquet floor on different levels, with a central mobile wrap around screen and lighting rig which is raised and lowered to different effect, written information and graphics projected just above the stage illustrated detail as each character was introduced and the scene set.
There is a dignified and mature character in George Padmore, the organiser of Congress ( Eamonn Walker ), whose responsibilities weigh heavy upon him at times, and a fiery formidable figure in Amy Ashwood-Garvey, the powerful and charismatic chair of Congress ( Pamela Nomvete ) amongst others.
Alongside these are the energetic and idealistic younger members, Kwame Nkrumah, ambitious and impatient (Eric Kofe Abrefa), Len Johnson a local lad and ex boxer with a tough upbringing (Tachia Newall), and Alma La Badie a social worker whose sense of injustice and inequality burns deep within her, fuelling her advocacy for the community she supports. Jomo Kenyatta (Tonderai Munyevu) is a great character, a stylish and worldly wise bar owner with a gift for oratory at Congress too.
Each character was well drawn, with humour and candour, and we get a clear understanding of what drives people from all walks of life to unify towards a common cause.
The Congress speeches were very well done with lighting (Matt Haskins) and sound (Alexandra Faye Braithwaite, Nick Lodge) giving a strong sense of the arena’s size and the gravity of the subjects, each speaker given centre stage to shine and enlighten us, a rapt audience.
Second act showed us how the characters now begin to understand each other as people, not just Congress attendees and interact further, sparking reactions and emotions which were handled with skill by the whole cast, who were all incredible to watch, particularly Pamela Nomvete and Leonie Elliott, who had us holding our breath at times during their performances.
This production felt very real and had us feeling we were present at a moment in history, not just listening to an account of it.
Ego, ambition and dissatisfaction come into play with gripping and explosive consequences. The characters Kwame and Alma in particular clash with the old guard, and lessons are learned that the journey towards ambitions is not a smooth one, sacrifices have to be made when idealism and reality collide.
The final act of the stunning performance was the whole cast coming together for photographs to mark the occasion and was an arresting moment as each photograph was taken, the image was captured on the circular screen above. It was clever and effective. Some original images were also projected to link the past and present.
The characters were all a pleasure to get to know with all the accompanying emotions. A well deserved standing ovation too
I have not seen an audience quite so still and attentive during a performance in a long time as they were last night. This is a fascinating and absorbing production, exactly what the Royal Exchange Theatre is all about. Many thanks to all involved, an absolute delight to experience.
I would urge anyone to go and catch this superb production while you can, it is on until July 26th. We will now go and learn more about this fascinating piece of Manchester history.
To accompany the production, there is an exhibition of related material of the history of the 1945 Pan African Congress in the Great Hall of the Royal Exchange titled “Local History, Global Impacts”.
Christine Ince for Canal St Media