Maud Sulter Live Programme: Service to Empire, a play by Maud Sulter (Film Screening and conversation)

Part of our Maud Sulter Live Programme

A screening of the filmed rehearsed reading of Service to Empire, directed and abridged by Onashile and co-curated with Mother Tongue. Following this screening there will be a conversation with the acclaimed actor, playwright, and director Adura Onashile.

‘Sulter wrote Service to Empire, published in 2002. In this play she reimagines the relationship between the parents of Jerry Rawlings: his father was a Scot, his mother Ghanaian. Exploring long-lasting colonial legacies across two continents, Sulter considered her play as providing ‘an incisive observation of the explosive reverberations’ of their affair and its impact on Ghana’s former President (in office 1979-2002). The play was written 20 years ago, but has never been performed. This reading is long overdue bringing to light the work of this internationally renowned artist.’ (from Mother Tongue website, with thanks) 

The film and screening were produced by the National Galleries of Scotland with external funding from Art Fund and Creative Scotland, with input from the Estate of Maud Sulter.

The Maud Sulter Live Programme curated by Pelumi Odubanjo accompanies our current exhibition Maud Sulter - You are my kindred spirit, open until 30 March 2025.