Writer Adrian Mitchell's drama about the extraordinary Jubilee Singers of Fisk University, Tennessee, who in the years immediately after slavery brought their great Sorrow Songs from the plantations to Europe.

The late Adrian Mitchell, who died suddenly last year, was a much loved and revered poet, playwright and human rights campaigner. He was inspired to write this musical play by the true story of the Welsh journalist who toured with the black American Jubilee singers in their first European tour in the late nineteenth century.

The singers enchanted Queen Victoria and Gladstone, and Swing Low Sweet Chariot was heard in England for the first time when they sang it to packed concert halls throughout the country. Mitchell's play was conceived for the theatre but it has not yet had a stage production; this is its premiere; adapted for radio under the guidance of Adrian's widow Celia Mitchell.

The play stars a London black gospel choir, with Musical directors Felix Cross and Allyson Devenish and a stellar black cast; Adjoa Andoh, Felix Dexter, Bonnie Greer, Nadine Marshall, Alibe Parsons, Clive Rowe and Ray Shell are joined by Jonathan Pryce who plays the Welsh journalist captivated by a completely new kind of song. He hears each singer's own story and begins to be entranced by one of them in particular, though their love appears to have no future, developing as it does under the shadow of war in Europe, and the inevitable barriers which nineteenth century culture placed between men and women of different race.

Cast
Adjoa Andoh
Felix Dexter
Bonnie Greer
Nadine Marshall
Alibe Parsons
Clive Rowe
Ray Shell
Jonathan Pryce

NITRO VOX IN 'THE JUBILEE SINGERS' BY ADRIAN MITCHELL

Mass Carib - Gloria Live from Greenwich Theatre

The fantastic 'Kyrie' section from Nitro's 'Mass Carib' workshop

Mass Carib Workshop - Kyrie (July 2010)

Extracts from 'The Gloria' in Mass Carib by Nitro

Composed by Felix Cross, Musical Director Allyson Devenish

Mass Carib Workshop- Gloria Extracts (July 2010)

nitroBEAT (previously Black Theatre Co-op & Nitro. Est. 1979)

With roots as the touchstone of a major cultural movement in Britain, nitroBEAT is an evolution and a vital collective urge to drive the vision forward into a new era - bringing together known and undiscovered talent and creating performances with a rebellious streak - intuitively and without labels.

We’re in love with music, theatre and visual art and they’re at the heart of everything we do. We’re finding new ways to explore the urgent stories of modern life waiting to be told. We’re building and developing ways of working and innovating to imagine, create and tour shows alongside festivals, talks, films, live music, events and ‘happenings’ - on stage, outside, online and in unexpected places.

Compelled by the desire to connect, excite, challenge and to cross boundaries, we’re encouraging people to examine the relationships with themselves and each other. We’re doing that locally and globally from our home in the centre of one of the most diverse cities in the world.


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