by Apphia Campbell
‘It’s our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win.’
Assata Shakur, a notorious Black Panther, is accused of murdering a state trooper in New Jersey in 1973. Ambrosia, a college student in 2014, is at the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement in Ferguson, Missouri, finding herself swept up in the consequences of protesting.
Two generations of women activists involved in the struggle for Black liberation in America.
Against a stunning soundtrack of gospel and blues, Apphia Campbell’s Through the Mud explores what it takes to become a revolutionary. Originally performed in Edinburgh in 2017, with the title Woke, it won a Scotsman Fringe First, a Highly Commended Award from Amnesty International, and was shortlisted for the Filipa Bragança and Scottish Art Club Theatre Awards.
This edition was published alongside the revival at Summerhall during the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, co-produced by Stellar Quines and The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh.
Every purchase you make from the National Theatre Bookshop helps fund the vital work of The National Theatre. Whether that's putting new work on stages across the world or supporting our outreach and learning programmes, every purchase you make really does make a difference.
