Rehearsed Reading | Maud Sulter: Service to Empire

In a unique live broadcast, National Galleries Scotland present the first abridged rehearsed reading from the play by Maud Sulter, Service to Empire. Directed and abridged by Adura Onashile and co-curated with Mother Tongue. The reading will be followed by a live Q&A.

Best known as an artist and poet, Sulter wrote Service to Empire, published with her imprint A19 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 provides ‘an incisive observation of the explosive reverberations’ of their affair and its impact on Ghana’s former President (in office 1979-2002). Since the play was written 20 years ago, it has never been performed. This reading is long overdue bringing to light the work of this internationally renowned artist.

With Art Fund support and supported by Creative Scotland, with generous input from the Estate of Maud Sulter.