Suzanne Packer and Nia Roberts cast in The Women of Llanrumney

This International Women’s Day, Sherman Theatre has announced that Suzanne Packer and Nia Roberts will lead the cast of its next production, The Women of Llanrumney.

The production was written by Azuka Oforka – a 2022 alumnus of Sherman Theatre’s Unheard Voices artist development programme.

Nia Roberts will play Elizabeth, with Suzanne playing the role of Annie. The remaining cast for this four-hander will be announced in coming weeks.

Talent

Speaking ahead of today’s announcement, Azuka said: “I feel incredibly privileged and excited to be working with such a talented group of women. This feels like a creative sisterhood joining forces to shine a powerful light on this important part of HER-story.”

The Women of Llanrumney is a devastating historical drama that confronts Wales’ colonial past head-on, and is set in the Llanrumney sugar plantation in Jamaica.

Performances will take place between 16 May-1 June 2024.

Plot

Set in 1765, Cerys and her mother Annie are enslaved by the wealthy Morgan family from Wales. Their future hangs in the balance when Elizabeth Morgan is faced with losing her plantation.

Fearing what could lie ahead, Annie does everything she can to secure her position in the Great House. But sooner or later, with a storm of rebellion building around her, Annie will have to face up to the horror and trauma all around her, including her own.

The Women of Llanrumney will be directed by Sherman Theatre Associate Artist Patricia Logue (who directed Sherman Theatre’s Lose Yourself in 2019). The Designer will be Stella-Jane Odoemelam (Swyn Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru).

The cast is led by Sherman Theatre Associate Artist Suzanne Packer (A Hero of the People Sherman Theatre;Casualty, Doctor Who, The Pembrokeshire Murders), who will play Annie.

Nia Roberts (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hedda Gabler Sherman Theatre; Steel Town Murders, Doctor Who, and the forthcoming Tree on a HillBBC; Yr Amgueddfa S4C) will take the role of Elizabeth.

Further casting will be announced in the coming weeks.

Box Office: www.shermantheatre.co.uk/the-women-of-llanrumney

Seating in the Studio is unreserved. Audiences can decide how much they’d like to pay, under Sherman Theatre’s Choose Your Price scheme.