Powered by heart-rending songs of humanity from West Africa, the Caribbean and Southern USA, Nitro staged a dramatic reconstruction of the events surrounding one of the most notorious and significant episodes in the history of the slave trade.
An African Cargo was based on transcriptions from the landmark court case in 1783, heard by Lord Mansfield, concerning the slave ship “Zong” and the terrible fate of 132 Africans who were thrown overboard for the sake of expediency.
Starring the stunning Julie Hewlett as Dido Belle, a black girl being raised by the white Lord Mansfield, Nitro told a story that still resonates today.The story was later made into the hit film Belle in 2013.
It was a most powerful story, Margaret Busby did a great job editing and shaping the dense 'legalese' language of the court case and I was very pleased by the way it was given an emotional dimension with the superb singing voices of Nitrovox.
