HEK – The Matari Writers Association, a union representing writers of theatre and holovid pieces, today backed the MPT’s decision to produce the highly controversial play  ‘Plantation.’ “While we do not normally condone the adaptation of works outside of their intended millieu, we also do not condone repression of freedom of any kind. We find the actions of those upset with the MPT’s decision to stage this play to be reprehensible,” said Koto Rydd, the group’s spokesman. 

The play, written 600 years ago by Ammatar author Dekkameron, explores the issues of power among the powerless. Set on an Ammarian plantation, the play focuses not on the cruelty of slavery but the cruelty amongst slaves. The Ammarian slave holders, rather than being the antagonists, are portrayed as benign individuals whose good intentions are abused by those slaves who seek power over their own kind. Rydd explained “The play is not about slavery, it is about power. The juxtaposition between slave and slaveholder, which shows the latter to be basically powerless against a small group of slaves that effectively run the plantation, is a brilliant literary device that Dekkameron uses to great effect.”