An immersive theatre production inspired by the Windrush generation marked the beginning of Black History Month at Islington Library this Monday.
Bigfoot Arts Education, a national theatre group, performed A Passenger’s Story: Generation Windrush, celebrating 65 years since the Empire Windrush ship first arrived in Britain. It told the story of two passengers’ arrival from the Caribbean.
Children at the event, from Clerkenwell’s St Peter and St Paul Catholic Primary School, interacted with plantain, hot sauce and other objects that passengers would have carried during the crossing.
The show was repeated for other schools visiting from across the borough.
A spokesperson for Islington Library said that the show aimed to educate children about the “foundations of multicultural Britain”.
Performer Dani Mosely told Islington Now: “We talk a lot about what Black Americans did for the Civil Rights Movement, but we don’t talk about what British people went through and how they changed laws.
“We wanted to talk about racism, what it feels like and equality in a way that makes sense to young children.”
The event was the first of many Black History Month events set to be hosted by the council, including the Central Library, Islington Museum and the Lewis Carroll Library.
