'I say sorry anyway' theatre production by Theatre Group Alum and Raymi Sambo Makes about Keti Koti and slavery past on tour from the end of September

Ik zeg toch sorry a theatre production by Theatre Group Aluin and Raymi Sambo Made about Keti Koti, the day celebrating the (official) abolition of slavery, can be seen in Dutch theatres from the end of September.

At a time when more and more municipalities and organisations are openly apologising for the slavery past or having their own role in this period investigated, Theatre Group Alum and Raymi Sambo Makes take a look at this period in history, in which roles were and still are harrowingly divided. And why does the Dutch government's apology for our slavery past keep coming? Ik zeg toch sorry was shown last June during Oerol on Terschelling. The theatre premiere is on Wednesday 28 September at Theater Kikker. The show will go on tour until mid-December.

In I Say Sorry, an exciting fusion of history and current events,
six actors come together to reenact the celebration of the abolition of slavery in 1863. What empathising with these historical characters does to the actors themselves, how they relate to the subject in this day and age, and whether it affects their relationships with each other, becomes slowly and painfully clear. For it soon becomes apparent that the actors do not always know how to deal with their character's point of view, let alone the opinions of their peers. What does it mean to say 'sorry' anno 2022 for something that seems so long ago?

I Say Sorry can be seen from Tuesday 27 September to Saturday 17 December 2022. The playlist can be found at raymisambomaakt.com/ikzegtochsorry. Ticket sales are through the websites of the respective theatres.

Raymi Sambo and Victorine Plante were classmates at the Toneelschool in Utrecht.

Twenty-five years ago, they graduated and each went their separate ways. They met again at a reunion six years ago. Both now combine acting with artistic leadership of their own theatre company. Victorine at Alum and Raymi with Raymi Sambo Makes.
Alum made a historical triptych about the Eighty Years' War in 2014-2019, highlighting the flip side of well-known heroic stories. Partly because of this, Victorine developed a desire to create a performance with Raymi about the history of slavery and to what extent this past affects the present. Victorine: "I find it a great loss that I learned so little about this past at school. I could therefore quite easily keep this past at bay, literally at bay, that happened a long time ago. When I started looking into it, everything about this past turned out to be primal: the economic motives, the fear of paying for something, the fear of facing your past. With Ik zeg toch sorry, I am trying to overcome this fear, to stop being afraid to admit that these pages are pitch black. I say sorry too. Because I kept it at bay for so long."

Erik Snel (Aluin) wrote the theatre text in close collaboration with Ayden Carlo (Raymi Sambo Makes). To create the text, they used such diverse historical sources as: "Wij slaven van Suriname" by Anton de Kom, "De geschiedenis van Slavernij" by Dick Harisson, "Dagen van gejuich en gejubel" by Glen Willemsen. Books such as "Hello white people" by Anousha N'zume, "White innocence" by Gloria Wekker and "Utrecht and the history of slavery" by Nancy Jouwe also underpin this text. In addition, extensive use has been made of podcasts, columns, novels and personal conversations.

concept Raymi Sambo and Victorine Plante direction Victorine Plante text Erik Snel with Ayden Carlo and Raymi Sambo acting Gabby Bakker, Dennis Coenen, Rochelle Deekman/Nancy Masaba, Urmie Plein, Raymi Sambo, Nard Verdonschot set design Marcel Dolman costume design Anouk van Schie lighting design Benno Barends direction assistance Shabnam Baqhiri production Inez van der Werf, Eva Hermus, Noa Berndsen (stage)