The life of Edward Rushton, Blind Poet and key figure in the Campaign against Slavery, will be spotlighted in a new production by Valley Theatre Drama Group in Liverpool.
The play – entitled “The Ballad of Crooked Lane” – is set on the day Rushton, now well into middle age, awaits eye surgery to regain his sight. While waiting, he goes over his eventful life with his friend and biographer, William Shepherd, the Minister of Gateacre Chapel.
“Rushton was a larger-than-life character,” says writer and director Tom Mclennan. “The story is that he lost his sight going below deck to help sick African captives on their way to the plantations. I first read about him in Bill Hunter’s biography “Unsung Hero” and have always felt his life deserves more recognition.”
Apart from campaigning against the slave trade – not always a popular thing to do in those days, since a large amount of Liverpool’s wealth was based on the evil triangular trade – Rushton was also instrumental in establishing the Liverpool School for the Blind, one of the first in the country, as well as being at the forefront of efforts to end the notorious pressgangs that terrorised coastal neighbourhoods, intent on kidnapping sailors for the British Navy.
“The Ballad of Crooked Lane” will be performed as part of a double bill along with Day Sheehan’s “Wake” for the Liverpool Fringe on Monday October 6th, 7.30pm, at Valley Theatre in Netherley, and on Tuesday 7th October, 7.30pm, at The Studio Beyond, 63 Wood Street, Liverpool L1 4AL
Entrance for the Valley Theatre event is free (pay a donation if you like it). Tickets for the Studio Beyond are £8/£6 and can be bought from:
https://store.makeitwrite.org/product/balladandwake/