British Nigerian Artist Condones Attack on Defenceless Female Politician
21 May 2024
Greetings,
Four weeks ago today, on the second day of rehearsing what I thought was the final draft of my newest play, Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown, I seriously contemplated cancelling the opening performances.
I didn’t think I could do what was required of me: some major re-writing, learning new text and songs, and introducing some movement, all while doing the things that come with being one’s own producer. With quite a few sleepless nights and lots of help, the play finally saw its premiere at the Brighton Fringe as originally scheduled, on Friday, 10 May 2024. At the time of writing this, three reviews have come in: one negative, two positive. The negative one was actually fair, in that it concentrated on the fact that it was hardly a polished performance, and I hadn’t fully learned the script. The positive ones got exactly what the play is really about, and saw the potential rather than the pitfalls. The review by Dan Glazebrook in Morning Star ends with “Aluko’s seamless switching between swaggering general and cowering victim is almost alchemical, while the sweetness and beauty of the songs provides a poignant contrast to the often bleak events they punctuate.” Elaine Chapman finishes her own review by stating that "One of the reasons I love Fringe Theatre is challenging performances like these.
"Having done three performances (improving with each) and arranged an additional rehearsal before the next run, I am happy to promote it here so that those in striking distance of Brighton might have a chance to see it between 24 and 26 May. Click on image below for booking details.
I will also be taking it to the Edinburgh Fringe in August, from which I hope many bookings will come. I already have one scheduled for October, at the Wellingborough African Caribbean Association, Northamptonshire. It is encouraging to receive a booking of a new product based entirely on reputation and previous form!
Before Coleridge-Taylor...
I had a performance of Call Mr. Robeson at the Bolton Octagon (my second visit there) in March. My programme note dealt with Palestine, and the fact that Paul Robeson has been credited as one of the donors to the creation of an Israeli national park on the ruins of three Palestinian villages. What might have gone on as those villages were ethnically cleansed is likely to have mirrored what had happened during the Nakba (1948), described in this documentary I came across recently. In this short extract, now-elderly men talk about the rape and murder they participated in or witnessed. The full documentary is here:
I also finished writing a poem and reading it to camera, inspired by an Israeli general, titled Human Animals.
I have read it in public a few times, most recently at the student encampment at University of Liverpool’s Abercromby Alareer Square. This space in my home city is just one of several places around the world where inspiration can be found in the fight against a global elite who seem unmoved by the fact that a slaughter of unspeakable proportions is being perpetrated in the name of settler colonialism and white supremacy. Thankfully, there is no sign as yet of the Liverpool University students being in the kind of danger of state repression that others, particularly in the US, Netherlands or Germany, (those bastions of Western civilisation and democracy) have been subjected to.
Several weeks earlier, I had also recorded If I Must Die, the poem written by the late Refaat Alareer – one of the tens of thousands murdered by the Isreali Occupation Forces, with footage I took of a flag at a Pro-Palestine demonstration in London.
I have had a relationship with the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool for something like thirty years now, and have recently had some involvement as an interested member of the community in discussing plans for the proposed redesign of the museum. I was invited to a meeting recently, which I discovered would have meant crossing a picket line. Unbeknownst to me, my decision not to do so was caught on camera, and sent to me with a little note. I credit Paul Robeson for teaching me right, even from beyond the grave. The strike is ongoing.
Forthcoming:
I continue to do auditions for film and TV roles from time to time, but while that lottery hasn’t favoured me for a while, I remain hopeful.
On May 31, I will be a small part of a public meeting calling for an end to the genocide in Palestine. Organised by the Merseyside Pensioners’ Association, the headliners are two former Labour MPs, George Galloway and Claudia Webb, and the former-ANC-MP Andrew Feinstein. They happen to all share the honour of having fallen foul of the genocide-enabling British Labour Party at one time or the other, and, along with comrades around the country, look set to cause major upset and embarrassment in the forthcoming general elections. Watch this space
.The following week, I’ll be part of a debate on Activism, Justice and Climate
and a concert to raise funds for a children’s hospital charity in Nepal, an event organised by one of the generous paid subscribers to my newsletter.
Following the Edinburgh Fringe, I’ll be off to the US for the first bits of work there for quite a while, with performances of Call Mr. Robeson in Pennsylvania, Georgia and (hopefully) New Jersey. More opportunities are sought..
Parting Shots.
Black on Black “Crime:” Defenceless High-Ranking British Female Politician (of Colour) Viciously Attacked by Communist Student (of Colour), Live on Air.
That piece will close the newsletter, beyond the paywall. It will be the fourth of the parting shots, which present news that tends not to make it onto mainstream media (or stay on for long, if it does), or my thoughts on various things of interest. Regular subscriptions to my full newsletters are one way of supporting me, another is one-off donations of money, air miles, accommodation vouchers, etc. Two unsuccessful recent funding applications for Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown make it even more necessary to solicit help from those who can afford it. If you are unable to help (or can, but choose not to), you’ll just have to wait a little longer to see the rest of the newsletter: I’ll remove the paywall when I release the next one. The last one (World’s Archbishop Assassinated in Liverpool Cathedral. Nigerian Actor Claims Responsibility from Feb. 26, 2024) is now fully available.
The first parting shot is news that the small organisation Palestine Action has managed to shut down another Israeli-owned arms factory in Tamworth, England, through sustained direct action involving ordinary citizens.
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