Review: Kennedy Center's SANCHO Struggles to Balance Personality and Character

British actor Paterson Joseph presents Sancho: An Act of Remembrance as a one-man play about the, "Forerunner of all struggles." And indeed Charles Ignatius Sancho's story is a remarkable one. Yet, Joseph's work and portrayal often seems more focused on the personality and less on the actual character of a man who overcame slavery and made British history in his personal quest for freedom and liberty.

Sancho's story alone is worth presenting onstage because it is incredible. He was born on a slave ship and at the age of three was taken to London. While working as a servant for three sisters he caught the attention of British nobility, the 2nd Duke of Montagu. With the help of the Montagu family, Sancho learned how to read and write. He would go onto became a passionate abolitionist writing the leading thinkers of the day, a business owner and father.

Joseph, who conceived the play, has an infectious joy about Sancho. With an over abiding sense of charisma and whit, he essentially welcomes us into the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theatre and tells us what led him to develop the piece we're about to watch. The fourth-wall is broken for the entire performance giving the production an informal feeling which at times becomes a distraction.

In channeling Sancho, Joseph reveals him to be a refined man with a great stage presence. A historically accurate fact since Sancho was taught to be a performer of sorts for his masters at their social gatherings. However, his yearning to be more than a slave, to be learned and a freeman often seem like the secondary focus of the play. Sancho was a prolific writer for the abolitionist movement and we only get a brief glimpse into that aspect of his personality.

Furthermore, Sancho is broken into three parts with the later one seeming a bit disjointed. The first two sections chronicle his early years and relationship with the Montagu family. Part three then picks up 12 years later on the eve of 1774's British parliamentary elections with Sancho now owning a grocery shop in Westminster. Parts one and two flow seamlessly, but it is the transition to the third section which seems disjointed.

So much has happened in Sancho's life and is happening in England at that moment that the 12 years gap is significant. With a runtime of 80 minutes and no intermission, there is room to expand and deepen the story.

Finally, there's little to no information about the slave trade and abolitionist movement in England. This is important because we cannot judge the significance of events in Sancho's life without historical context. Was it a big deal that he owned property? When was slavery abolished in England? How was his freedom viewed by other fellow Englishmen? These were significant holes in the story and left the audience coming to their own conclusions.

Sancho is co-directed by Joseph and Simon Godwin. They do an effective job using a series of props to transform the stage into a slave ship, a house in Greenwich and other locations bringing to life the major events of Sancho's life.

Presented as part of the World Stage's Festival, the Kennedy Centers should be recognized for bringing this play to DC. It is not often that we see stories about slavery from a non-American perspective. Theater is meant to broaden our horizons and Sancho, with its flaws, does just that.

Photo: Paterson Joseph in Sancho: An Act of Remembrance. Credit: Kennedy Center

Sancho: An Act of Remembrance ran October 23rd & 24th at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 2700 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20566.

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