The Empress

"I am an ayah- but I like boats. I like the smack of salty wind on my face, the seaspray in my hair and the thunder of waves. I've rolled across those vast oceans back and forth - forty times. I looked after English families' children on the voyage over here from our country and then I would go back again. If I counted up how many children I looked after, I would say it was about... two hundred. It is 1887, the year Queen Victoria celebrates her Golden Jubilee. On the boat from India, Rani befriends a lascar (sailor), an Indian politician and a royal servant destined to serve the Queen. Full of hopes and dreams of what lies ahead, they each embark on an extraordinary journey. Will their expectations come true or will they have to forge a different path in their new country? Spanning 13 years over the 'Golden Era' of Empire, this story blends the experiences of Indian ayahs and lascars who worked on the ships carrying trade goods, alongside the first Indian politician to be elected as a Member of Parliament. This epic story reveals how socially diverse the Asian presence was in nineteenth-century Britain. This revised edition was published to coincide with the 2023 revival at the RSC's Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and the transfer to London's Lyric Hammersmith Theatre." -- Publisher's Description.