The Cambria

Frederick Douglass is one of the great iconic figures in American history and a forerunner to our new American president, Barack Obama. At the 1888 Republican convention in Chicago, he became the first African-American to have his name placed in nomination for the presidency by a major party.

But forty-three years earlier, as a relatively unknown escaped slave, he was forced to flee the United States after publishing his life story, A Narrative of the Life of an American Slave. With false papers – and a bounty on his head from enraged slaveholders – he boarded the Cunard Line paddle-steamer The Cambria out of Boston bound for Ireland. He was greeted like a hero by the Irish people and spoke to mass meetings on platforms with Daniel O’Connell, the leading Irish politician of the day.

The Cambria is the thrilling tale of the historic voyage in which Douglass’ identity was revealed – placing his life in mortal danger. Written by Ireland’s master theatrical storyteller Donal O’Kelly, who recently dazzled IAC audiences last November with his virtuosic Catalpa, The Cambria tells the story of how Douglass survived to become what Abraham Lincoln called “the most impressive man I ever met,” and the rhetorical inspiration for Barack Obama’s successful campaign for the American Presidency