Crossings was commissioned as work in progress by DaDa (Deaf and Disability Arts) Festival, Liverpool. An extraordinary team of creatives brought the production together, directed by Karena Johnson with set designed by Chris de Wilde and visuals by Caglar Kimyoncu. The work in progress used integrated sign language throughout, with Hetty May Bailey, interpreter and BSL consultant. It opened at The Cochrane Theatre in London to full houses in September before transferring to Treasure House Theatre and CUC’s Bird Theatre, Liverpool.

Crossings is seen through the eyes of Shelley, 15, pregnant and on the run from a gang she belongs to. It’s Canning Dock, Liverpool, 2008. Shelley heads for the ferry boat in a storm and finds herself swept into the ghost ship of the notorious Zong, a slaveship with a murderous history. Confronted by two powerful figures from the past, she is forced to choose between life as she’s known it or something new. Dead or alive, will she ever make it?

The full production will launch at RichMix’ Identity and Migration season, June 5th and 6th directed by Paulette Randall, starring Margo Cargill, Nadine Wild Palmer and Julie McNamara.

About the Creative Team

I have wanted to write a part for Margo Cargill for some years. Margo, an excellent actor, has too often been directed to act as if she’s sighted, when she is quite clearly blind. I had witnessed her creative potential and wanted the right Director to stretch her. I wanted to watch her fly. Luckily Margo liked the script idea and was willing to throw caution to the wind and work with me.

Chris de Wilde whom I met at The Cochrane Theatre, designed a superb set with Margo in mind. We needed a set that worked like a ship’s deck. He created a magnificent wooden structure that came apart in three sections for touring. Surrounded by wooden groins and tilted to the bow, Margo was able to move with great fluidity about the decking. She worked it with her feet, playing it like an enormous Marimba, thumping at the stakes as she found her placement swiftly moving about the stage. Each groin had grooves etched into the top of them so that Margo was able to read where she was on deck. ‘The set was a dream for me’ says Margo. ‘Because I could find my way about very easily and there were no barriers.’

Caglar Kimyoncu and I have worked together in Disability Arts for over ten years now. He is undoubtedly one of the most patient men on earth. We created the Disability Film Festival together at London Disability Arts Forum, hosted at National Film Theatre, South Bank attracting over 3,500 visitors from all over the world. A filmmaker with a superb eye for visual information, he works with great integrity and heart. Editor on previous productions: Pig Tales and Pig’s Sister, his creative visual work and projections throughout Crossings add another layer to the magic and feed in vital cues.

Hetty May Bailey and I had worked alongside each other on The Vagina Monologues, directed by Jenny Sealey. On discovering that we were both researching the Zong at the same time, we decided that this production could not go forward without Hetty on board. I am indebted to Hetty May Bailey for her stalwart support, constant supply of information, questions and directions. We hadn’t seen each other since she staggered out at the end of a previous play of mine: Pig’s Sister with the words: ‘I don’t know what I have just witnessed but that spooked the life out of me!’ I hope working on Crossings hasn’t done it again…

I am indebted to Hetty May for her advice and for introducing me to Fred D’Aguiar’s writing in: ‘Feeding the Ghosts’. His work became the inspiration for one of my characters in Crossings. Nzingah, the sole survivor of the Zong could only have been a woman after reading Fred’s work.

‘Blessing Shelley’ Photo by Michele Martinoli with a rear projection of Lisa Reihana’s cropped portrait of Hine Nui Te Po.

I am indebted to Lisa Reihana, an extraordinary visual artist of the Nga Puhi for her cropped image of Hine Nui TePo (from: Te Ara a Hine ‘The pathway of Women’) who appears in the projected images as the ‘First Woman’, Maori elder watching over us. Also for the blessing received from the elders of the Nga Puhi who consented to the use of the image in support of this work. I am deeply grateful. Portrait of Hine Nui Te Po by Lisa Reihana (Nga Puhi)

Nadine Wild Palmer walked into my life via Caglar Kimyoncu’s filmwork. She gives a wonderful performance as Shelley, now coached on a casual basis in her new Scouse accent by my wayward niece. (I have paid in blood, sweat and tears…)

Gursen (Gus) Houssein is something of a magician. Gus is our Lighting Designer and operator and an early Source of sound tracks. When she’s not swinging from the lighting rig, she’s effects sampling from India Dock, Greenwich and Liverpool, not forgetting a wayward outing on the Golden Hinde. Gus works closely alongside Tupps – Alan Clifton, guiding and tutoring our Trainee Lighting Assistant, Usher and Stagehand. Theirs is a magnificent match made in heaven, a balance of willpower and wishful thinking.