Co-writing a creative history of abolitionism from below: the theatre play The Return of Benjamin Lay by Marcus Rediker and Naomi Wallace

Shortly after Rediker published The Fearless Benjamin Lay: The Quaker Dwarf Who Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist in 2017, Wallace and Rediker embarked on a co-creative journey that would lead to the co-production of the play The Return of Benjamin Lay which premiered in London on 13 June 2023. This interview traces this co-writing journey and process, a creative history from below.