‘Oronooko’ tells the story of a fictional African prince, who is duped into slavery and sent to Surinam, a British colony in South America.
There, with his beloved Imoinda also enslaved, he must use every ounce of his reasoning and nobility to persuade his captors to free him.
A poignant tale, ´Oroonoko´ was first staged in the UK by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and featured Jo Martin, of TV’s ‘Doctor Who.’
´Oroonoko´ is a riveting read that swayed many of Behn’s critics toward abolitionism.
Aphra Behn (1640 – 1689) lived many lives in one lifetime. While she is best known for her work as a poet, author, and playwright, she also worked as a spy for the court of King Charles II and spent some time in a debtor’s prison.
However, very little is known about the UK’s first professional female author, possibly as the result of Aphra erasing her history to work in the field of espionage.
What we do know is that a quick stay in jail prompted Behn to begin writing as a means of financing herself. Despite an initially successful run of plays, including ‘The Forc’d Marriage’, ‘The Amorous Prince’, and ‘The Dutch Lover’, critics panned her outings, on account they had discovered they had been written by a woman.
However, she continued to write, and her play, ‘The Rover’, became a favourite in Charles II’s court. Towards the end of her life, Behn wrote prose until her death in 1689. She was buried in Westminster Abbey.
