10 Feb 2023
 

The Liverpool 8 Against Apartheid display at the Museum of Liverpool highlights the story of how Liverpool's Black community supported the anti-apartheid campaign in the 1980s and the fight to free Nelson Mandela. Top Girls cast members Alicya Eyo (Joyce) and Saffron Dey (Angie) visited the display and met with Stephen Carl-Lokko who is the Museum’s Curator Of Community History & Content.

Top Girls is set in the early 1980s and is re-located from Suffolk to L8 with Caryl Churchill's blessing for this production. For everyone working on the show, understanding Liverpool's Black Community and History is vital to creating the world of Top Girls with authenticity and respect. In the 1980s, L8 was tireless in its support of the anti-apartheid struggle through demos, product boycotts, park runs and the Free Nelson Mandela Campaign, so this display and time with Stephen has given us valuable insight.

The display contains campaign posters, badges and images of L8 community demonstrations along with the voices of local community activists. The display also highlights the work of Sonia Bassey MBE and Mandela8 to establish a permanent memorial celebrating the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela in Toxteth’s Princes Park.