The Marvellous Adventures of Mary Seacole will be performed at the Rosemary Branch Theatre on February 17 at 11.30am. It will be open to young people aged 12 to 18, along with their parents, guardians, or carers.
The one-woman show, adapted and performed by Daniella Pollendine, is a bold reimagining of Mary Seacole’s life and legacy as a healer, traveller, and witness to the horrors of war.
The play aims to capture the enduring spirit of a woman who paved her own path and challenged the narratives of her time, reflecting on memory, identity, and the search for home.
It is directed by Sophia Woolfenden and Maria Sousa, with design by George Lammiman and sound by Sophia Hansen-Knarnoi and Kezia Abuoma.
Mary Seacole, born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1805, was a nurse and businesswoman known for her work during the Crimean War and for writing the first autobiography by a Black woman in Britain.
She wrote: “Unless I am allowed to tell the story of my life in my own way, I cannot tell it at all.”
She established the British Hotel in Crimea. Her memoir, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, published in 1857, remains a significant record of her experiences.
Seacole was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in 1990 and was voted the greatest Black Briton in 2004. Though widely celebrated today, she was largely forgotten for almost a century after her death.
A statue in her honour was erected at St Thomas’ Hospital in London on June 30, 2016.
Cleo Sylvestre’s play returns to the Rosemary Branch stage 14 years after its original run, and the event is being offered free of charge for young audiences. Organisers have advised that space is extremely limited and advance booking is strongly recommended.
The show includes content warnings for language, flashing lights, and distressing themes such as war, death, and fire. Bookings can be made via rosemarybranchtheatre.co.uk.
