Slung Low Warehouse is a comparatively new performance space in Holbeck, having moved from Holbeck Working Men’s Club, where they used to put on shows on a Pay What You Decide basis. This philosophy is continued here and at their other new space, Slung Low at Temple. It is very basic being – surprise, surprise – an ex-warehouse. A stage has been erected with armchairs and folding chairs – more of which later – arranged around the room to make it extremely versatile. There are other areas to accommodate whatever else is required. A temporary bar was in operation where I was served a bottle of extremely reasonably priced San Miguel by the Artistic Manager, Alan Lane. Everybody does whatever is needed to put on the productions.
Madeline Appiah as Shirley Chisholm
I knew that this was going to be a unique night as soon as I arrived and took my place in the queue for the loos, which are gender neutral, and I saw the writer of this evening’s musical, Testament, who was passing by. I had met him before when I was invited to an event in the Corn Exchange, Leeds where he was giving a performance to trail his show Orpheus in the Record Shop – in a real record shop. We had a chat during which he told me that what I was about to see was the concert version of the musical, as they need to raise money before the full show can be staged.
The subject of the piece is Shirley Chisholm, who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to Congress. Once there she was assigned to the House Agriculture Committee, which she felt was insulting as she was from New York so had no rural connections, therefore the post was irrelevant to her constituents. During a conversation with Rebbe (Rabbi) Schneerson, about her feelings, he suggested that she used her office to utilise the surplus food available to feed the poor and needy, which she did, later crediting the Rebbe with the fact that so many ‘poor babies (now) have milk and so many poor children have food.’ She eventually moved to the Education and Labor Committee.
Having read the publicity for the show I thought that it might be a purely race-based work but nothing could be further from the truth. The fact that Mrs Chisholm was black turned out to be only a small part of her campaigning for all American minority groups. Her strap line was ‘Unbought and Unbossed’. She would later say that she had faced far more discrimination during her New York public service because she was a woman, than she had because of her colour. Once at Congress she introduced a policy insofar as the staffing of her own office was concerned, in that it should comprise solely of women and the ratio between black and white should be 50:50.
In 1971 she began her bid to become the Democratic nominee for the Presidential Election the following year. She was hampered in this aim in several ways, mainly because she only had a fund of $300,000 whereas her competitors had access to millions. She also encountered the anti-feminist lobby and, surprisingly, or maybe not, opposition from the male members of the Congressional Black Caucus. She was also initially denied access to the television debates which comprised the other candidates. She did, however, eventually become the first woman to appear in a United States presidential debate.
To illustrate the open-mindedness and integrity of Mrs Chisholm, during the campaign in 1972 she visited Governor George Wallace in hospital after he had been the subject of an assassination attempt, which saw him confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He was a symbol of the racist faction of the Democratic Party, using the slogan when standing for the Presidential nomination of the party against Lyndon Johnson in 1963, ‘segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.’ Chisholm herself was subject to a knife attack during her campaign but it was thwarted by her security contingent.
The nomination was eventually won by George McGovern who was defeated in the Presidential election by Richard Nixon.
Shirley Chisholm retired from politics in 1983 to care for her second husband, Arthur Hardwick Jnr, who had been seriously injured in a car accident in 1979.
The cast and musicians.
The evening itself showed just what a talent Testament is. The range of songs he has composed for this work was stunning. They were all written and performed in the style of the early seventies, when black music in particular was going through the transition from its roots in jazz and blues via soul and Motown, to the development of a more sophisticated fusion with people like Isaac Hayes, Bill Withers and, my favourite, Richie Havens who brought a cutting edge to the genre. Even pop acts were coming to terms with the new order, examples being The Temptations’ ‘Ball of Confusion’ and Marvin Gaye’s’ What’s Going On’. Testament draws on these influences, as well as some early style rap, without copying them or indulging in pastiche. I felt as though I could have discovered the songs languishing in my record collection of the time.
They weren’t all bangers as they were composed to set the scene and tell the story, which they did admirably, but they were crafted to perfection whilst retaining their soul. Prime illustrations being; ‘The Right Thing To Do’ which justified her visit to George Wallace in hospital; ‘When They Go Low, We Go High’ indicating her refusal to sink to the gutter tactics used by some of her opponents, and the song based on one of her slogans aimed at the disaffected sections of society, ‘If They Don’t Give You A Seat At The Table, Bring A Folding Chair’.
Testament, left and Solomon Gordon, right
The musicians and singers/actors were stupendous and, there being seven of the former and eleven of the latter, too great in number to credit individually. Please click on this link for full details https://leedsstudio.org/2024/04/12/chisholm-for-president/
The performers, who depicted characters contemporary to the work, as well as notable people from both before and after the action, spent time in the chorus as well as taking the spotlight as soloists or part of a small group and, without exception, each one was superb. Once again I felt as though I were back in my early twenties at a concert given by stars of the era.
If you don’t believe me please click on this link which takes you to a YouTube entry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAEEzcLH7gg
Testament and cast taking the well deserved applause from the audience.
I normally publish my reviews as quickly as possible, but in this case I have spent the weekend mulling things over in case I changed my opinion once the euphoria of the performance had given way to a more measured opinion, but I still feel as enthusiastic about the show now as I did on Friday night. It also would not have made much difference as, sadly, there were only two dates on the ‘tour’ with the second being on Saturday evening in London, which was already sold out. They must know something darn sarf. I only hope that there was some discerning impresario in the audience who paid what they decided, and that being to fund a full production.
Chisholm For President! is based on a Book by Zodwa Nyoni, Directed by Alex Chisholm (no relation), with Music and Lyrics by Testament. The Musical Director was Michael Lovelock. It was presented by Leeds/Studio. To see what else they have in the pipeline please go to https://leedsstudio.org/about/
To find out more about Slung Low and their forthcoming events it is https://www.slunglow.org/
Feature Image provided by Duncan Clarke PR. Photographs by Stan Graham.
Tyke It To The Limit 