A memory: reggae pioneer Sutara Gayle - AKA Lorna Gee - hears her radio debut from Holloway Prison. Another: she's engulfed in the Brixton uprising sparked by the police shooting of her sister. And now she’s here, at a silent retreat, seeking spiritual guidance from her brother Mooji and ancestor Nanny of the Maroons, and a moment of transcendence.
Powered by high-octane musical numbers and a virtuoso performance, The Legends of Them is a breath-taking, roof-raising chronicle of Sutara’s singular, extraordinary life – and the legends that have guided her.
The Legends of Them charts the story of Sutara Gayle’s extraordinary life - a pioneering female deejay on London’s infamous reggae scene in the 1980s, Lorna Gee cut her cloth performing for the legendary Saxone, Coxsone and Nasty Rockers sound systems. A run-in with Linton Kwesi Johnson whilst waiting in the dole queue inspired her to write her first single Three Weeks Gone (mi Giro) which she heard for the first time on the radio whilst doing a stint in Holloway Prison. Going on to have her hit single Got To Find A Way in the reggae charts for 6 weeks, Lorna won the BC Radio London Reggae awards 2 years in a row in 1985 and 1986, followed by the 1992 New York, Tamika Reggae Award for best female Deejay.
In 1985 her sister Cherry Groce was shot by the police, sparking the second Brixton Uprising and this landmark event in British history provides the socio-political backdrop to this compelling story. In her darkest hour, Lorna’s brother - internationally renowned guru Mooji - takes her to India to experience her first Satsang (spiritual gathering) and it is Lorna’s spiritual encounter - with the 3 legends in her life as her spiritual guides, her mother, sister and ancestry Nanny of the Maroons - which frames this story. Neither a conventional play or musical, The Legends of Them is a unique theatrical, shared spiritual experience. Expect a no holds barred, intimate encounter with an outstanding virtuoso performer who conjures multiple characters in this epic story.
2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the shooting of Cherry Groce.
Part of Black History Month at HOME.
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