Director’s Note – Margaret Connell

Forgotten Voices, literally, gives a voice to Eva Moorhead Kadalie.  A voice that could so easily have been obscured forever, but for the curiosity and tenacity of her grandson, David Moorhead. Digging beneath family stories and folklore and his own fond memories of his glamorous, funny and enigmatic grandmother, David’s extensive research has uncovered the story of a young woman with a strong sense of injustice and the drive, intelligence and compassion to join the fight against it. 

Eva’s story is one of personal sacrifice, loss, grief and regret made bearable by the political and social gains she helped to bring about.  Her work changed the lives of many and paved the way for those that followed. Our task in the rehearsal room has been to give Eva an authentic voice which allows her, quite remarkable, story to be told in a way that cements her place in the history of the emancipation of South Africa.

Some of the themes in the play feel uncomfortably close to home nearly a hundred years later in post Brexit Britain, including the normalisation of in work poverty and insecurity and the power of the elite owned press to destroy those who threaten their interests  by challenging the status quo.