Betty Campbell – and the magnificent monument that captures her spirit – continue to inspire.
Wales’ first black headteacher, champion of multiculturalism and community icon became the first Welsh female to be immortalised in bronze last September and now, just in time for International Women’s Day, her legacy will live on in a new play for children.
The one-woman show, called Betty Campbell – A Journey through Butetown, will take youngsters on a historical journey through Cardiff’s cultural melting pot, from the building of the docklands, through two World Wars and on to modern day Cardiff Bay... all through the eyes of the revered Mrs Campbell.
Read more: 'My trailblazer nan Betty Campbell and what her statue means to me and Cardiff'
The Welsh-medium play will be staged for the first time at Ysgol Hamadryad primary school in Cardiff Bay on Monday, before touring schools across Wales. Plans are also underway for an English-language production.
Written by Nia Morais, a young writer from Cardiff, the play is being staged by children’s theatre company Mewn Cymeriad/In Character. The play was inspired by the Monumental Welsh Women campaign which culminated in the unveiling of sculptor Eve Shepherd’s dazzling monument of Betty Campbell in Cardiff’s Central Square.
In the eponymous role is actress Kimberley Abodunrin, originally from Pembrokeshire, and now living in Birmingham after moving to the city to study drama. The play is directed by Swansea actor and director Carli De’La Hughes.
Kimberley Abodunrin says: “I’m excited and proud to play such an inspirational woman as Betty Campbell, and to be able to share the rich history of Butetown with children across Wales.”
And it’s a story that children will relate to because the flashpoint of Betty’s life came as a schoolgirl – a moment in a classroom that shaped her life forever.
Born in Butetown in 1934, Betty was raised in the poverty of Tiger Bay. Her mother struggled to make ends meet after her father was killed in the Second World War.
Betty loved the escapism of reading – particularly the Enid Blyton tales of girls’ boarding schools.
Winning a scholarship to Lady Margaret High School for Girls in Cardiff brought her dreams of an idyllic academic environment within reach. Here, she studied alongside mostly white, middle-class girls. But when Betty expressed the same ambitions as her classmates held, she was crushed.
Always near the top of the class, Betty told her head-teacher she too would like to teach but the response was: “Oh my dear, the problems would be insurmountable.”
Those words devastated her – but they also made her even more resilient and focused.
“I went back to my desk and I cried,” Betty once recalled. “That was the first time I ever cried in school. But it made me more determined; I was going to be a teacher by hook or by crook.”
She overcame setbacks and racism to pursue her goal. In 1960 she was one of six female students at Cardiff Teacher Training College which was admitting women for the first time. Juggling a young family, she qualified as a teacher.
In 1973 she became Wales’s first black headteacher; galvanising generations of Butetown children and establishing a template for multicultural education that spread far beyond the gates of her beloved Mount Stuart Primary School.
To carry her life lessons into the play, Mewn Cymeriad/In Character worked closely with Betty’s family, who have supported the project from the outset.
Her daughter, Elaine Clarke, says: “Mum was a passionate teacher, committed to enriching the lives of her pupils. She was also an innovator, teaching her pupils about slavery and black history, later working for the Commission for Racial Equality and helping create Black History Month. We’ve been delighted to work with In Character on this play, which continues my mum’s legacy. We hope children across Wales will be inspired by Betty’s story to achieve their own goals and dreams.”
The play and its production have been developed in partnership with Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru and with support from BACA – Butetown Arts and Culture Association. Arwel Gruffydd from Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru says:
“It is important to share the story of Betty Campbell’s life with schoolchildren across Wales. Her story has already inspired so many people, and will continue to do so, and Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru is delighted to support this very special production. The company is particularly pleased to be able to support the professional development of the two lead artists involved in the project, playwright Nia Morais and director Carli De’La Hughes. It has been a pleasure to work with both. We wish the actor Kimberley Abodunrin well and the production every success as it visits schools all over Wales.”
Producer Ffion Glyn, who works for Mewn Cymeriad/In Character, adds: “Working on a project about such an inspirational Welsh woman has been a joy. Betty Campbell was passionate about the teaching of black history in schools, and our aim, in this play, will be to honour her legacy, by giving children across Wales the opportunity to learn about Betty and her beloved Butetown. With the learning of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic histories now central to the new Welsh curriculum, we hope that schools from all over Wales will take up this opportunity.”
And what a great opportunity it is to learn Welsh history in this way. Mewn Cymeriad/In Character are doing brilliant work to communicate our heritage to children in the most fun and imaginative fashion. Founded by S4C’s former head of marketing and events, Eleri Twynog, the theatre company produces shows on characters and stories from Welsh history.
When Eleri created the company in 2014, the original aim was to provide interactive one-man/woman shows to primary schools throughout Wales. The company now produces drama for a variety of audiences, both children and adults, spanning a spectrum of history from the Celtic era to the 20th anniversary of the Senedd, and characters as varied as Llywelyn the last and author Kate Roberts.
The shows kickstart further study, providing teachers with resources relevant to the literacy and numeracy requirements of the Welsh curriculum.
I would have loved this as a kid but, like generations before me, I missed out on any meaningful engagement with our own story thanks to a syllabus that marginalised Welsh history. I grew up so obsessed with the kings and queens of England, I painted a frieze for the wall of our history classroom that started with the Plantagenets and ended with the current monarch.
During bouts of childhood insomnia, I would recite them chronologically to induce sleep. At this point my knowledge of Welsh history was confined to a Ladybird book on The Faithful Dog Gelert, a tale of Cymric canine pathos that could still reduce me to tears.
By History A-level, I’d grasped the impact of non-conformity on 19th century Welsh politics and brushed up on the Rebecca Riots. But that was it.
It wasn’t until I made a concerted effort as an adult to fill in the considerable blanks starting with the help of Gwyn Alf Williams’ fiery polemic and John Davies’ elegant prose that I began to see Welsh history from within.
Thanks to Mewn Cymeriad/In Character and continuing improvements to how history is taught in Wales, future generations should grow up knowing our story in all its richness and diversity.
And if there’s one person who would approve of that, it’s Betty Campbell.
Schools can book shows by visiting the website www.mewncymeriad.cymru.
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