“Padi dem, kohntri, una ohl wey dey na Rom”. This is a Krio translation of one of Shakespeare’s most famous lines. Sierra Leone has a powerful tradition of poetry, song, and plays. In 1963, a playwright translated one of Shakepeare’s most complex works into Krio, Sierra Leone’s local language, in a defiant attempt to prove the worth and depth of Sierra Leone’s oral tradition. In this episode, Charlie Haffner digs the play up from the archives and asks what it tells us about contemporary Salone language and culture.

With special guests: Dame Judi Dench, Aminatta Forna and Raymond de’Souza George

A podcast series produced by Novel Studios for Africell.

Presented: Charlie Haffner

Written and created: Charlie Haffner and Sam Williams

Edited: Nadia Mehdi

Executive producers: Sam Williams and Max O'Brien

Sound design and mixing: Naomi Clarke

Special thanks: Abdul Karim Sesay, Shadi Gerjawi, Eleanor Biggs, Claire Crofton, Pippa Smith and the Africell Impact Foundation.