What a journey so far! I feel as if I can sit down for the first time in ages, say 400 years!!!!!!

Through our new project ‘Lost & Found’, I have travelled many miles and sometimes not even left the Yorkshire Women Theatre office to do it. To give you an idea of where we have been so far, we have decided to share a monthly Blog of the Lost & Found Project.

The aim of the blog is to share our working practice, experiences, challenges and our thoughts on meeting new people and venues, all very exciting but sometimes overwhelming. It’s good to log the journey on the way.

Background - 2004
Way back in 2004 I became the new Artistic Director of Yorkshire Women Theatre. I thrived in the excitement of what was and is YWT. At that time the Cultural activist, Director, Writer and all round good guy Joe Williams came to see us here at YWT. He spoke about the Bicentennial of the Abolition of the Slave trade in Britain to be commemorated in 2007.

The core team consisting of Julie Courtney, Anna Ashby and myself had further discussions and came to the conclusion that in terms of Yorkshire Women Theatre’s expertise in theatre in health and social education and our location within a culturally diverse community the organisation had to respond.

Within these discussions we felt strongly about key areas of the subject matter of the Slave trade, for example; the imagery of chains was not to be reproduced in a live art format. We felt that the confinement of human beings in chains or any other act of brutality had to be discussed in a time considered way, using either the workpack or website material to explore these areas.

It was important to us that all who came into contact with the project was safe and not left despondent or disempowered. At this stage we had more lists on what we had no intention of producing then our intentions.

With that in mind we acknowledged that the subject of the Slave Trade takes activist and scholars years to comprehend. We got down to business and began uncovering what would be the YWT response to 2007. It has already proven to be an extraordinary journey.

First Steps
We decided to go for the Heritage Lottery Fund bid marking the 2007 event. As with most things in the arts world, you have to have a strong valid idea in order to make a strong valid bid This takes time and money, money and time that your core organisation can ill afford.

It’s a gamble, but one we felt was worth taking. We needed to inform the work properly and ultimately provide a valuable resource for young people and schools.

I met with Carmen Taylor of the Community History Department at Tolsen Museum in Huddersfield Kirklees. Carmen had invaluable information and produced archive material directly related to the Slave Trade and more importantly the anti – Slave Trade movement in the region. We also discussed the challenges for museums in widening their audience to culturally diverse groups. This acknowledgment of the disparity between the academic archival world and relevance today for our communities young and old came up time and time again and I felt that YWT ‘s strength lay in the brokering between those relationships. We had to acknowledge that because of the past directly relating to all our present and all our futures, that certain historical artefacts are culturally sensitive. Understanding those sensitivities and opening up the access to these artefacts that have been preserved and preserved for us all is the way forward.

But this needed a real cultural shift in thinking from both parties. The core thinking of this project is that we are all living heritage, heritage matters and it belongs to us all. Clearly before we could discuss the abolition of the Slave Trade in Britian we had to define the Transatlantic slave trade it self. At this stage we required a timeline to place events in to context. The Transatlantic Slave Trade spanned hundreds of years involving African and European countries and the Caribbean islands. At times it seemed overwhelming and some what glib to try and define it.

Knowledge is power.
I contacted various institutions for information about our regions archives and the relevant involvement in both the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Anti- Slavery Movement. I could hear in the voices of the people at the various institutions the real fear when I asked these questions. I might as well have asked “have you or any of your family personally been involved in the Slave Trade? “if so, do you have any slaves in stock? And “can I have my family and things back please?” Had I not been African Caribbean I’m sure the response would not have been so alarmed. I sensed the question ‘have you or your family been involved in the Slave Trade?” Would be on most people's minds when approaching this subject ’either bought or sold, two sides of a coin as it were, any audience wants to know which side they belong(ed) to. With this premise we came to the conclusion that nothing was to be assumed.

Looking to the core team once again there were to be no assumption that because of a Jamaican parentage and also a Liverpudlian parentage that it was a given that one family may well have been directly involved in the Slave Trade. It could easily turn out that a Liverpudlian Family campaigned against slavery and that through the Jamaican ancestry a family could have sold slaves to the Europeans. Heritage without truth is worthless. We had to be prepared for anything.

DNA TEST
So because history can be a slippery thing depending on who tells the story I decided to turn to science. I did my genetic DNA test. I recalled that the BBC had produced a programme called the Motherland, which traced a small group of Black British peoples’ DNA ancestry. It had proved to be a radical outcome for all. Those who were convinced of their African heritage were redirected to Europe and those who were convinced of their European links had to rethink what this meant.I felt in order to truly understand the consequences of what it means to be ‘living heritage’, I needed to understand where I came from. The more material I read I found there were no guarantees that the marjority of Jamaican families originated from West Africa as I had previously thought..

I went on to the internet and chose a suitable company. I read the testimonies on the website and realised that many of them had been written by the very people I had been reading. Paul Crooks who wrote “Ancestors” an account of his genealogy journey and , Arthur Torrington of the Equinao society and a member of the Committee for the 2007 event. I sent off for the DNA Kit. A week later it arrived at my door. This was when I started to consider the enormity of what I was about to do.
If you were to ask any one from my family where are our family were from they would answer Jamaica - St. Thomas, Jamaica - St. James, London. Some would even say Europe some would say Africa but if it proved to be Africa where in Africa? Africa is not a country it’s a continent. Africa is made up of diverse countries with different codes, and where do you start? My eldest son took pictures of be swabbing my mouth with the test. This tiny cotton bud stick would answer some of these questions. Was I ready for the answers?

Time went by and I told few people. My son was fascinated. I promised I would share with him whatever came through, after all it was his heritage too. He seemed amazed by this, science is amazing. I had chosen for the information to be delivered by email and checked every day until I began to forget to look out for it. Seven weeks had passed and one Saturday March morning I sat in my dressing gown on our rocking chair in front of the PC.

I pressed the send/receive button and in the inbox the message DNA results could be seen clearly. I blinked and it was still there. I paused and knew that nothing would be the same again once I had pushed the button and opened the message. Breathing in and out I pressed the button. There were three documents.The `DNA result

The first was a list of various African countries and tribes. Some I had heard of some I could not pronounce. The list was long and had a number of surprises. Italy and Iraq being a few, but in terms of African nations most surprising to me was the east African country Tanzania. I had a genetic cousin apparently from this beautiful land. I immediately wanted to see what the people of this tribe looked like, what the land looked like. As with most things I Googled it. Googling yourself had never been quite like this!

The Bushmen of the Hadzabe tribe had long serious faces and looked frozen in time. Why was I surprised? I don’t know. Was I expecting my self to stare back? I found the results precious yet confusing. It was like holding a gift that you had no idea what it was, what it did or who gave it to you. Just that it is yours and it will take time to work it out. Running around shouting “look what I’ve got” without being able to explain what it was, was not an option I may have lost what my heritage could have been but what I had found I was not sure of . However It felt strangely satisfying, like I had unlocked a secret.

I decided at this stage to set my DNA results aside. I knew that this part of the journey had to wait until I had access to a forum that could make more sense of it all.

Visit to Bristol
I attend a training day ‘Understanding Slavery’ on the 15th of March. YWT felt that attendance of this training day would:

• Give YWT a further insight in to the subject matter
• Acknowledge the challenges working on and with an emotive subject such as slavery. Think about how to share this with diverse communities.
• Give us a clear indication of what other organisations intend to achieve marking this year.

The Training day was aimed at teachers and educators whose intentions were to discuss the issues of slavery with a various range of groups. The attendees of the training day were mainly from museums. Namely the Archives Museum, Natural History Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, the Liverpool Transatlantic slavery Museum and academics studying archaeology to Egyptology. In attendance was also a Caribbean Storyteller, Primary and High school teachers as well as my self.

It was exciting meeting the other delegates. The training did what it set out to do. To inform on the subject matter. The delegates came to the subject matter of slavery from various angles, literally.

The challenge was to share the facts as we know them and to ensure the safety of all you work with. The feeling of despondency and disempowerment has no room in a workshop. But how do you place a shackle in front of an audience without various types of emotive responses. It’s not that we don’t want the emotion, it is that we want to take care with the emotion and place it.

The empire and commonwealth Museum organisation also chose to share its intentions for 2007. Their intentions pending funding will hopefully be in place for December 2006. We wish them well in all that they do.

The questions I came away with having been a part of the training day was:
Why don’t we as a nation have a clear understanding of Slavery and the slave trade?
What has been the impact of the slave trade to our world today?
What could have happened had the slave trade not gone on?Through the economics of the slave trade racism was invented and justified to support the slave trade how far have we come?
What is our legacy?

Lost and Finding a name
Returning to Yorkshire after my time in Bristol, I stood on the station platform thinking, detangling, humming. I found my self with the words ‘I once was lost and now I am found’ from the hymn Amazing Grace. A hymn written by an ex-slave master who found redemption through anti-Slavery work. Tumbling the words over in my mind, I thought about the recent experience of hitting that button and finding my DNA results. What had once been lost had now been found. I immediately rang our Company Manager - Julie Courtney and started ranting down the phone. Julie Courtney has on many occassions had to listen to me rant on. She is the most gracious woman I know. Trying to form ideas and make sense of them while they are happening is truly exciting. It’s why I do what I do. To bounce off others who have the energy, passion and expertise is what dreams are made of. On that Bristol platform on the way home the stars aligned. I might as well have flown home (I wish I did it took ages on the train five hours!)

Bid writing
We spent the next few months reassessing our challenges and reasoning’s behind what was now to be called the LOST & FOUND project and wrote our bid accordingly.

Summer off
I took the summer off as requested by our Company manager however I continued to read, read and read some more but don’t tell Julie..

Liverpool
I attended a two-day event in Liverpool’s Slavery remembrance day on the 23rd August. I have been hanging out at this exhibition space for the past 5 years at least and to return as Artistic Director of Yorkshire Women Theatre was a thrill. The events comprised of the annual lecture this year by Ekow Eshun who discussed his book Black Gold of the Sun. The following day a traditional libation ceremony was lead by Chief Angus Chukuemeka . There were then speeches and arts performances from international, national and regional groups. For those who know me this is a glass of wine conversation to be had for sure.

Marcia Layne
Ever since we conceived the idea of the Lost & Found project I have only wanted one writer. This writer is Marcia Layne. A gifted and very talented writer from Sheffield. Marcia is someone I have had the pleasure to see emerge and blossom into a writer who has contributed to the contemporary landscape of British theatre.

One of my jobs as Artistic Director is to commission writers. I have to know who is out there and if truth be told, to know my place in the context of the rest of the theatre World. Yorkshire Women Theatre has ground breaking, innovative, challenging work with subject matters within the community such as weapon use amongst young people and children, and domestic violence experienced by Women by men they know. This work in non-theatre venues does not attract the theatre critics of this world. However good work is good work and I was excited at the prospect of pitching to Marcia about the project.

It turned out to be one of the most extraordinary meetings I have ever had with a writer. I was able to produce the concept with out dictating what the writer was to write. To share the experience so far, basically I was human blog and we were both left exhausted. I could see other arts practitioners looking over at the two of us clearly wanting to join in the excitement. I am pleased to say that Marcia went away and came back wanting to be part of the project I very much look forward to the next phase.

Forum
We have now begun our monthly forum for workers to share best practice and to help keep sane in the work. Invited practitioners spend a couple of hours a month discussing the implications of the work, the challenges and the triumphs. The journey continues.

LOST & FOUND
Thoughts for now …….
We have lost who we could have been forever. The generations between my ancestor and me covers thousands of years the journey continues. Because of economics and social choices the world changed forever.

Like dropping a jigsaw and losing some of the pieces. Once you start trying to put the pieces together you find yourself not even knowing what the picture is supposed to look like. Just that it is of a map that you lost you don’t even like doing jigsaws and this one has over 1000 pieces. Can’t I just Google it?

But you know it’s important and piecing it together will go some way in to explaining a few things. So the jigsaw comes together and the picture is of you… not what you thought it would be, but a true likeness, not how others see you, but how you feel.

For those of you travelling - pack well, stay safe and good luck in all you do.

Amanda Huxtable, November 2006

2007

Still journeying - stop off at number Ten……

TAXI…
Well that was a bit strange. I found myself jumping into the taxi shouting "Number Ten please". The taxi driver had quite a bit to say about that I’m sure you can imagine.

Once at the gates I handed overmy invitation. "Number 73" the policeman said as I went through the security, like you do when your going on holiday at an airport. Only this was no holiday, this was what our work had brought us to. To the famous number ten door. However before the let me in, I had to hand over my purse, diary, phone and camera. There was to be no recording of this event other than using my own senses..

THE WHEEL
Once outside the big Black well polished door with the number ten on it I took a moment to look down towards the river Thames, from there I could see the London Eye . The London eye looked like a shiny Ferris wheel in the dark. I had been on the London Eye a few years back. The next few hours would be like being on that wheel, a glance of London a from a peculiar site. Before you are allowed on the London Eye you have to be searched and you end up sharing your pod with all kinds of people. It is both scary and exciting at the same time and you try and take it all. You try and remember what you have seen before you come back down and are kicked out. The difference being I can pay to go back on the wheel if I see fit where as...........oh I’ll leave the rest to you....

NUMBER TEN
Outside the famous door, most people were very giddy and taking lots of pictures. At one point, the staff had to get us to come in. I entered and to the left of the door was a wooden rack where you took a card and left your phone and camera. It's possibly the most secure house in the land I had no worries leaving my things there. I walked towards another member of Staff who kindly took my coat and gave me a ticket in exchange. We then walked along the corridor where Prime Ministers from the past on their winning the election are welcomed by the number ten staff with a round of applause. At the end of the corridor was a name badge table I spotted the names of Tessa Jowell , Jack Straw, Bill Morris and Trevor Phillips to name but a few and amongst all these names was my name , representing Yorkshire Women Theatre. A man said "just walk upstairs " and it was the famous staircase with all the pics of previous Prime Ministers. Tony Blair’s picture will be placed at the top of the stairs once he leaves.

NETWORKING IN THE BEST ROOM IN THE LAND
We appeared to be one of the first set of people in the State Room. People looked both thrilled and nervous which leaves a rather odd expression on the face let me tell you. The few green ornate chairs, the type you’re not usually allowed to sit on if you visit statley homes were occupied and the elegant staff were serving white wine, red wine, water and juice.

I stuck to the juice. Like I said I had no other way of recording the events other than my senses so I needed them fully working... I spoke to many people . A woman came over simply because I smiled. She is a freelance artist in Nottingham focusing on a version of the Wedgwood design. I found my self drawn to women who happened to be the Artistic Director of Talawa - Britain’s longest running Black Theatre Company. We had a chuckle at theatre people finding each in whatever circumstances. I looked over and saw another woman who is a researcher for the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich the borough that I was brought up in. I spoke to a man from Plymouth who talked about isolation. I realised half way through that this was networking at its most prolific, also at this stage I also realised how many people in the room I had met previously on the journey there are still so few of us that we bump in to each on this small island more frequently then expected. Then some one banged a gong and John Prescott started speaking.

The Prime Minster and his Deputy.
John Prescott spoke about current trade. Mr Prescott is the chair of events for the bicentennial year. Now that everyone was still and focused I scanned the room and saw Baroness Valerie Amos leader of the House of Lords, Lord Bill Morris who was head of the T&G, Paul Boateng now High Commissioner of South Africa, Lee Jasper, the list goes on. It was also notable who was not there Lee Jasper boss for on the Mayor of London. For one. Then the Prime Minster spoke about the end of Slavery an older Black women was not impressed and corrected him he continued his nervous delivery going on about Afro Caribbean’s and such like he relaxed when he made a joke and said anyway things are changing for the better this event would not have happened fifty years ok. An MP shouted out" wouldn’t have happened 15 years ago". He ended his speech and I found myself with the theatre lot again. People left after the speech by people I mean John Reid the rest of us stayed to have fun, we were invited to do so.

More Networking
I spotted Arthur Torrington who greeted me kindly and he was looking for Paul Boateng. I spoke to a woman who had just got back from Ghana, Ghana celebrates it’s 50th anniversary of independence this year. I managed to speak to Paul Boateng who said he recognised me. I had forgotten he had met me and my family at the Bradford Mela some years back. A friendly looking woman thought she recognised me, she was standing with Baroness Rosalind Howells who I have admired for many years. She introduced me and we had a discussion on the Big Brother debacle.

The Cabinet Room
We tried to see the Cabinet Room and spoke to one of the many Civil Servants in attendance. As we walked down the stairs ready to end the evening, John Prescott was directly behind me and I turned and said “can you show us the Cabinet Room please”? He said "why not?". He had two posters in his hand signed by astronaut Bolden said "he’s been in space three times". It got very surreal as a handful of us entered the cabinet. I’m stood there watching Prescott show us the Cabinet like its normal……. a bloke asked about the painting. Prescott said "do you know I’ve been here 10 years and don't even know, hang on oh it's Walpole only the first Prime Minster..." There was a sense of pride in the event - that it is happening at all. The strange mixture of misfits, artists and activists trying to commemorate a moment in time and acknowledge the work still to be done. This stop off at number ten could be distracting if I allowed it.

I could dismiss it or exalt in it, neither would do the work any justice and so I see it for what it was - a posh pit stop. Some have Jags to drive some of us have to walk. A gathering of minds and now the work continues…….. On leaving Number Ten the wheel still lights up London taking it’s final passengers for the day ready to kick them out and start all over again the next day…

Amanda Huxtable - February 2007

March 25th 2007
March came. The 25th of March 1807 was the date of the passing of the Bill to end the Transatlantic Slave Trade in Britain. To commemorate the bicentenary I knew that there would be countless events to mark this day. There would be church services, Museum events and street events nationally and even a live broadcast from Jamaica would be one of the many international occasions to mark the day. On this day, I had felt several times I would be finding a quiet place to feed the ducks and contemplate life.

Mr John Courtney : 29/05/1924 - 25/03/2007

On Sunday morning the 25th March, I learnt of the sad news that our Company Manger’s father Mr. John Courtney had passed away.

We had been working with this day in mind for so long, that at times it seemed overwhelming. The 25th of March had been about remembering our past in order to set us all free for the future and now a father had been lost. Words, so often my saving grace failed me.
I wish Julie and her family peace at this sad time.

APRIL

Tate & Tubes
I spent one day in May hanging out at the Tate Modern where Tony Blair had invited YWT amongst others to hear him say the arts need not worry in regards to money and the Olympics. (Cue tumbleweeds) Nuff said on that score I don’t think a bottle of wine is going to do it either.

The Harder They Come
Still, met the lovely Kerry Michael who had a production of The Harder they come at Royal Stratford East. The classic story of The Harder they come discusses the social deprivation of the island of Jamaica and contains a scene with the lead Character Ivan placed over a barrel, naked and being whipped with a cat of nine tails. This journey really is crazy, I’m constantly contextualising where we are. The mark of Slavery and its legacy is everywhere, including what is missing. The que into the Tate is still not diverse enough and those who are from the diverse sector are begining to recognize each other. Small Island or what?

Minding My Own
Minding my own business, visiting friends in Walsall, we take the kids to the Walsall Gallery and find work that discusses the notion of alienation through costume it does this by producing an alien costume using material from West Africa. Our youngest takes the opportunity to dress up. I wish they had a big one for grown ups!!

MAY
Saw a moving piece called Nothing but the Truth at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, a play written by one of South Africa’s leading actors and activist. It took a simple story and explored the complications of the South African story. I’m constantly amazed at the ability to touch the world in little less than two hours. The task our writer has in producing Lost & Found in a little under one hour is colossal. We need to keep our eyes wide open and feet firmly on the ground, or we will end up mad crazy in the corner whimpering dates, names, and Lord knows what else. Our writer Marcia Layne is doing her thing, I’m counting the days, and she tells me not to. Everywhere I go Slavery. I think I better take a break.

NEW YORK
So went off for Suzi Q’s birthdays but even then found this
African Burial Ground Memorial Site.

The original map of the area
I will have more to say on this trip but at a later time.

JUNE
We have the Script. Marcia is now recovering at a Spa somewhere in the region we salute her. Now the journey continues…

Amanda Huxtable

June 2007

This Year YWT have been on a journey. It was called Lost and Found and many joined us along the way actors, visual artists, studio engineers, spoken word artists ,graphic artists, illustrators, researchers, production assistants, students and teachers and our families.

YWT invited writer Marcia Layne to write the script. That was it, write a script about the Transatlantic Slave Trade and its impact on the world today, oh and do it in 60 minutes please. Easy!!!!!!!

We held monthly artists forums where we discussed hopes and fears for the year and beyond. Young people we met with tried to grasp what the baton of history they were now holding meant to them, ‘what has Slavery got to do with me?” became a key question of the Lost & Found play. My feeling, now we have come to a resting point, (the work never ends) is that Lost and Found will be part of a body of work that has explored and provided new resources. These include a wealth of books, plays, films ,visual art ,websites and numerous column inches exploring Slavery and racism and more importantly created a generation of young people who are arguably more aware and more educated about the subject then any other generation gone before . Some of the presented to them was triumphant some less so, but ultimately all trying to leave a legacy.

What time is it ?
I am of course writing this in retrospect. The blog business has been hard
recently because we are one of the 194 companies pending loss of funding from the Arts Council. This means a sharp focus away from direct creativity to politics; some
would say this was one and the same thing. Being creative is what I do, it’s who I am.

Through these difficult circumstances ( Hope you had a Happy Holiday by the way) these occasions provoke me into very creative thinking. I have to say though, given the choice a good solid calm foundation helps my creative pulse. Still you take the rough with the smooth in this business.

At the end of a creatively successful year YWT should be thriving. Instead, we find ourselves now simply striving to survive. There are surely strange times ahead for us all in the arts, with hidden agendas, mindless politics and financial insecurity. Its feels like the mid 80’s again! - How far have we really come?

This does not create a great arena for artistic innovation unless innovation now means how to make art on a shoestring - oh yes I forget it does. Some of the worlds best work has been
born out of pain, but YWT is not a jazz troupe and I have no desire to wallow in a Billie Holiday fashion. This space will be used to share the work as it was and still is. I will take advantage of the fact that given YWT's circumstances it means that more people will be reading this blog. Whether it be old friends trying to catch up on what we do now,
our loyal supporters and colleagues or simply the curious you are all very welcome.

July
Extracts of email conversation between Director (Amanda Huxtable)and Writer (Marcia Layne)of Lost and Found:

Dear Amanda, the process of trying to find the 'right' stories to tell orthe stories that need to be told has been difficult to say the least. I've been down many roads, found it to be a cul
de sac or a dead end and I even reversed
and parked up. To be honest, I needed sat nav. Marcia Layne©

Dear Marcia ,
You know what? some of our ancestors were damn fool too you know. Just cos
they are dead we give them all this reverence, but they were beautiful, graceful, mischievous, lazy, funny
looking, proud, angry and happy. All kinds of people and the thing we need to remember is that to humanize people will be the goal, so that people walk away understanding a human story, not black, white or dog but human. Amanda Huxtable

I think of the stories and subjects chosen within the play Lost & Found like wedding guests, like a wedding you can’t invite any and everybody and some guests you wouldn’t even bother with but
it keeps your mum happy so you let them in you get me? AH

Dear Amanda,
My grandfather on my father's side was born in Barbados so I tried a quick
search on the ancestors’ website and discovered many enslaved Africans with the owner 'Layne' covering the period 1786 onwards. I was surprised by the
feeling that came over me to be honest - you think you know but really you
have no idea. ML

Dear Marcia,
We can talk about all the things that this year was not …but what it must be is a strong legacy of honesty and pride. Honesty at who was involved in the abusive system of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in Britain and pride in our individual and collective contribution towards a better nation for all, today and always. AH

AUGUST
I visited the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool with my family and
friends. Liverpool commemorates the International Slavery Remembrance Day every year on the 23rd of August. This year my family joined me with the additional factor of the Amistad docking at the Albert dock. It was a very exciting and poignant 24hrs.

Boys taking their seats
The boys sat in the Igbo tribes’ village. I did not shed a tear until this moment. They sat like they belonged, a lost tribe travelling within time. We wondered if Dr. Who could lend us his
Tardis?

September

Auditions
There are always nerve-racking questions on the day of auditions. What if we don’t find the cast? What if we have to just make do? The audition process is not ideal. How do you find the right individual whocan work within a team and produce the work for a specific audience group in 20 minutes? I approach these days with the thought that YWT provides the
space and clarity on what we are looking for, then the professional infront of us can do their stuff and show us why they do what they do. It should be simple.

We had a positive response to the call for casting however It was fairly depressing when some candidates withdrew from the audition process because they simply could not afford to continuein the acting business an old story I know. Numerous tales of having to seek job security elsewhere outside ofthe industry were told and a too high
proportion of these tales were coming from black theatre workers.
At one stage we became a development and support agency for the nation withpeople just grateful for a kind word of encouragement.

Glen Wilson almost ended up in the bin! He sent his application via email and our shrewd Company manger checked the trash and found him and one other loitering. Luckily he was retrieved,dusted down and invited to join us to audition. He arrived cool calm and dedicated to his craft. He had a nononsense air about him. When he read as ABU he had the most beautiful tenor voice. Abu had to be both commanding and charming and it was somewhat
disarming hearing the north London tones switch an octave and travelthousands of miles. I know this is what actors do but many who have gone before said they can and failed. Finding Glen's voice meant we had an anchor to graft the African scenes to. Abu’s wife Nia's undying loyalty to Abu could not be questioned, many would fall in love with a voice like that!

Andrea Crewe arrived at our base like cool summer breeze, a stunning looking
actress with a solid dedication. The character of Ashleigh had to be vulnerable yet strong. Ashleigh does not know quite what do when provoked by Ricky, but knows that something should be done. Playing 15-year-old Ashleigh then Nia - African woman who had a worldly
confidence and then of course the feisty Efua who was willing to die beforeaccepting enslavement was a wide range for any actor. Andrea had an extraordinary ability to get from 0 to 60emotionally. Her emotional bank was vast and generous whilst still able to laugh out loud at her self and with others.

Rob Snell has to be one of the most physically gifted actors I have met ina long time (I’m talking about his dance skills here!) Anna and I had clear questions for each actor and everyone got asked the key question ‘what does slavery mean to you?’. In terms of skills you can either act, sing or move but there are additional issues that need exploring, otherwise you can find yourself in deep water later on down the line. Casting this particular part the
questions were, what will it be like for a white cast member touring aprovocative piece with a majority black cast and crew? What will come up for the team, the audience and the individual? Rob was not only charming but clearly loved his job and was up for the challenge.

October - Rehearsal
So you’re brushing your teeth and your thinking of the day, the weeks and
the months ahead. We were about to embark on the thing we had been planning, researching writing, marketing and auditioning for. I took a good hard look at who was in front of me. All had something to bring to the table orthey wouldn’t be in the room.

On the first day the Company needed to take care of the individuals we now
had responsibility for. Boundaries and procedures needed to be discussed before any art started. Boundaries arealso a good place to start in rehearsal. The first day is always a weird day; people tend to jostle for position,wondering what they have let themselves in
for. They had to learn to trust me and take the journey. At times I feltlike a mad professor unpacking all the stuff and all the thoughts. The danger here is that you can overload people. I had to introduce a good pace and of course I’m not only unpacking the story and my thoughts but also checking out the three different individuals and their possible needs, strengths and weakness. I overcame some of the anxiety byplacing the first day on Friday. This allowed for the weekend to bed thoughts down and look over the script.

I have a rehearsal diary which will be formalised once evaluation is completed I will add notes at this time.

November - Tour
The highlights of this tour for me were from the very first day. We went toa predominantly white school and provoked the students into asking exciting questions. The key would always
be the type of questions the audience asked. The questions showed what their main concerns were. What they most enjoyed and what they had gained from the experience. It also gave a clear indication if something was notworking and needed adjusting. How and
where would a year 8 pupil be able to ask theses questions like why doesthe overseer want to change an enslaved persons name? Then share a debate about this psychological racial abuse in its context.

LOST & FOUND – resting point?
The Lost and Found play written by Marcia Layne has sourced and used material gathered and shared with artists across three continents. If history is to teach us anything though it is
that this is not the final word that it will evolve and change just like the British weather. Throughout the year there has been an integrity to the work that allowed for
solid foundations. This is YWT’S contribution to on going discussion,
debate and arguments about the Transatlantic Slave Trade and it’s impact on our world today. It has been humbling,exciting, frightening, enlightening, sometimes overwhelming, and uplifting - but ultimately a journey we wouldn’t have missed for the world. Lost & Found forms the basis of YWT’S work to seek the truth and tell it how was, how it is andhow it could be.
We have spent lots of time dwelling on our ancestors but for those yet to come what will they think of the work and us in 200 years time? I would like to believe that the journey towards the 400-year anniversary of the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in Britain wouldn’t be as arduous. I hope performing arts will still be relevant, vibrant and exciting and full of voices from all corners of life. For those of youtravelling - pack well, stay safe and good luck in all you do.

Amanda Huxtable on behalf of Yorkshire Women Theatre
December 2007