The Long Song

'You do not know me yet but I am the heroine of this drama. I am told that here I must give a taste of what is to unfold. I am to convey that this tale is set in Jamaica during the last turbulent days of slavery and the early years of freedom.

'I am to say that it is a true and thrilling journey through that unsettled time.

'Cha, I say, what fuss-fuss. Come, let them just see it for themselves.'

The Long Song is adapted from Andrea Levy's award-winning novel by Suhayla El-Bushra. It premiered at Chichester Festival Theatre in October 2021, directed by Charlotte Gwinner.



Andrea Levy's novels include Every Light in the House Burnin', Never Far from Nowhere, Fruit of the Lemon and The Long Song. Her 2004 novel Small Island won the Orange Prize for Fiction, and the Whitbread Novel and Book of the Year Awards.

Suhayla El-Bushra's work includes The Suicide (National Theatre), Arabian Nights (Lyceum, Edinburgh), and Channel 4's Ackley Bridge.



'[An] unblinking portrait of dignity amid moral horror... Suhayla El-Bushra's adaptation is a model of economy and fidelity... vivid and disturbing'



'Scenes of rare power'



'Bold, brilliant... phenomenal... Wherever it goes next, it's imperative it has a further life'



'An excellent adaptation... a brilliant interpretation of the story that had the audience gripped and engrossed from beginning to end. The applause, cheers and standing ovation said it all'