BELLE

Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761 – 1804) – the illegitimate daughter of a Royal navy captain, John Lindsay and an African woman named Maria Belle – was raised at Kenwood House in north London by her great uncle, Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice whose rulings were significant milestones in anti-slavery history. This powerful, moving and gently subversive drama is a finely wrought tale, interweaving familial intrigue with stirring social history. It intelligently combines the pleasures of a costume drama with the still shameful legacy and lessons of the slave trade.