In 1848 African-American slave Ellen Craft escaped to freedom by disguising herself as a white man. Moj of The Antarctic extends this amazing story of race and gender cross-dressing into a flight of theatrical fantasy; she enlists as a sailor set for a snowbound wilderness and Moj becomes the first Black woman to step foot in Antarctica!

This innovative production, which is being performed at London's Oval House Theatre from 13-17 May 2008, uses performance, poetry, music and stunning original photography, shot on location in Antarctica by the legendary queer visual artist Del LaGrace Volcano, to offer a radical view of both climate and change.

We caught up with Mojisola Adebayo, the show’s writer and performer, to find out more.

Tell us about Moj of The Antarctic. What can we expect?
You can certainly expect to be taken on an extraordinary odyssey, a word, sound and image rich Queer-Black theatrical expedition. Intimate yet epic; personal and political. Come prepared for all emotional weathers.

The production is inspired by the true life story of Ellen Craft. What was it about her that originally inspired you?
I was attracted to Ellen Craft for her sheer courage, inventiveness, creativity and passion for life in the face of unspeakable oppression. She cross dressed not only as a man, but as a white man to escape slavery. She risked her life to have the opportunity to live and love in freedom and she did all of that through performance. She performed for her life. I can’t think of a better role model for me. 

It’s an amazing story about gender cross-dressing and the history of drag. Do you think Ellen could have made her journey today?
Trans people all over the world, from the male to female eunuchs of Mumbai to the queers of San Francisco and Stoke Newington are s/heroes following in the footsteps of ancestors like Ellen, people making choices to live in a just freedom, by many means necessary.

What are you trying to achieve with the play?
I wanted to make a performance, inspired by Ellen but fictionalised into a character who travels all the way from the Deep South, to the deepest South of the Earth – Moj of the Antarctic. I felt this was a wonderfully rich story and my friends said it had to be told.

My aim was also to link Africa and Antarctica through the character Moj, a race and sex crossed dressed runaway slave. Philosphically I wanted to unpack the binaries that imprison us - white and black, male and female, north and south… But in terms of its immediate politic, I want to raise the issue of climate change and in particular the effect that global warming and Antarctic melting is having on Africa.

“I wish my butt cheeks were as tight as my budget!”

So, do you have a favourite moment or line in the production?
I love it when the audience join in. Doing a one woman show can get pretty lonely up there on your own. But there are absolutely gorgeous moments in the evening when the cast grows from one to one hundred, all telling the story – whether they are singing, speaking lines, wrapping up my boobs or helping me make a penis out of dough. I just love it most when the audience play with me!

It’s interesting that the whole drag king movement is becoming more popular. Do you think that females are finally catching up with the drag queen concept or is it more about power?
Women have been cross dressing for as long as men have. Drag Queens have just had more economic pulling power than Kings.

Transvestism in vaudeville also has a long history. Why do you think this is?
The genius socialist playwright Dario Fo says when you strip it away, popular culture is always subversive at its heart. Just like carnival. We have a need to stylishly subvert, invert and pervert the conservatism of gender, sex, race which ultimately makes us slaves and to do it with wild revelry, theatrical flair and revolting celebration.

When Moj gets a job on a ship the men become obsessed with Black face minstrelsy. What do you think was the attraction?
When I was researching expeditions to the Antarctic and down to the South Pole by famous explorers such as Scott and Shackleton I discovered that their men were obsessed with transvestism and minstrelsy. There are many photos of Scott and Shackelton’s men dressed as women, and dressed in black face with banjos in make shift theatres on Antarctica! So, this aspect of the play is bent out of the history books. And of course the racist practice of black face minstrelsy is a cruel and ironic comment on Moj’s own racial crossing as a white man.

Moj becomes the first Black woman to step foot in Antarctica. Do you think Ellen’s story an important moment in Black history?
Yes, Ellen’s story is one of the forgotten gems of Black history. However, unlike the character Moj in my play, Ellen Craft never actually went to Antarctica. I went to the Antarctic as part of my research but I haven’t been able to actually find out who was the first Black woman there. Obviously, our Black presence on that so called white wilderness was not seen as of significant note to historians. So, I re-invent her story through Moj, who becomes the first Black woman on Antarctica.

Matthew Henson, an African American was the first man at the North Pole. But his story was written out of the history books for decades. As Black people our truths are often either ignored or denied, our facts are made fiction. So I decided to make our fictions fact.

The production uses video, text, dance, music, storytelling, song and original photography to create a total theatre piece. What were you trying to achieve by using so many styles?
I am trying to make the kind of exciting theatre that I love to go and see!

“I just love it most when the audience play with me - whether they are singing, speaking lines, wrapping up my boobs or helping me make a penis out of dough.”

Have there been any particular challenges making all the elements fit together?
It’s very tough with little money, I wish my butt cheeks were as tight as my budget! But one of the achievements of this project is that it brings together a collective of artists from the Queer, Black and Asian communities who are all totally committed to making the project happen, even within very limited resources.

The photography has been created by Del LaGrace Volcano. What was it like working with the legendary queer visual artist?
An honour. I have been a fan of Del’s work for a long time. S/he is a diva, and never more so than 66 degrees south in the roughest seas on earth en route to the coldest place on the planet. Only Del could manage to wear a tutu on an Antarctic mountain.

You’ve worked in a wide range of theatrical styles. Do you naturally gravitate towards a particular style of theatre?
I guess you’d call it physical theatre, physical storytelling…

And finally, what’s next for you?
I will eventually write a sequel to Moj of the Antarctic, inspired by the life of Matt Henson who I mentioned before. But at the moment I’m working on a different continent on a play called 48 Minutes for Palestine, I work a lot in the Middle East and it’s a kind of love-hate story with a man and a woman, based on the relationship between Israel and Palestine.

I am also in rehearsals for Macbeth with the Royal Shakespeare Company, I am a witch of course – what else!

Moj of the Antarctic: An African Odyssey, by Mojisola Adebayo
Oval House Theatre
52-54 Kennington Oval
London, SE11 5SW
020 7582 7680 / www.ovalhouse.com

13-17 May 2008

Please note that the interview with Mojisola Adebayo took place when Moj Of The Antarctic was first performed at the Oval House Theatre, from 7-24 March 2007.

Brush up your black history by reading Go Tell It On The Mountain, by writer, queer bon vivant and civil rights activist par excellence James Baldwin. Buy the book online and save money.