If you hear about the RMS Titanic, you likely picture the 1997 romantic movie adaptation starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet. Laroche is a story of one unique passenger that Birmingham Black Box Theatre brought out of obscurity to deviate from the usual portrayals of the Titanic story.
Laroche is a stage production that chronicles Joseph Laroche, the only black passenger on board the Ship of Dreams, during its ill-fated maiden voyage. Shown from the 10th to the 12th of October, the play proves, in various ways, a momentous cultural milestone.
His story has largely remained lost to history. Now, it adds an inimitable and inclusive dimension to the Titanic tragedy and celebrates significant people of colour in the present as well as the past. Written and directed by Dr. Carlette L. Norwood, a black American playwright, and starring the first Nigerian actor, Destiny Osagiede, in the lead role, the play transcends across the one-hundred and twelve years in celebration of Black History Month.
Born May 26th 1886, Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche was a Haitian engineer before moving to France where he married a white French woman, Juliette Lafargue. They and their two daughters boarded the Titanic in hopes of starting a new life as racial segregation in France impeded Laroche’s career opportunities. But, of course, the Titanic tragedy prevented these dreams from being grasped. At age only 25, Laroche perished with many of the passengers during the sinking of the ship, though Juliette and their two daughters did.
In a Q and A session after the play, Dr Norwood, founder of the Black Box Theatre, was asked of her inspiration to tell Laroche’s story. “When James Cameron produced a seventy-five-million-dollar [Titanic] film,” she said, “we saw the Irish struggle, the class struggles, the upper class were also depicted but nowhere was it mentioned that a black man was on the Titanic.”
She claimed the inspiration came from a visit to the National Slaves Museum in Liverpool, the Titanic’s manufacturing location. There, she witnessed a sketch by non-white performers re-enacting the sinking. Thus began the research to find any evidence of real non-white passengers on the Ship of Dreams. To her amazement, she found Laroche, and the process of adapting his story began.
“Laroche is not another Titanic story; it’s a passenger story,” Dr Norwood revealed, “and I feel honoured to have been the one to write it.”
“We introduce the audience to Laroche’s unwavering determination to overcome racial barriers,” she added, “and achieve success in a world fraught with prejudice and discrimination.”
Told through stages of Joseph Laroche’s life, from him moving from his home in Haiti to France for education to encountering racial discrimination at every turn as he strives to find a career. Life seems brighter when he encounters his future wife, Juliette Lafargue, a white woman and their love shows perseverance against the attitudes of the time. While the production is stacked with heart-wrenching scenes of prejudice against Laroche, his romance with Juliette is a source of joy and sweetness for the audience. This is helped by the loving chemistry between actors Destiny Osagiede (who plays Laroche) and Christina Appana (who plays Juliette), offering a glimpse into the complexities of interracial relationships from a hundred years ago.
Lead actor, Destiny is the first Nigerian actor to play Laroche. The Birmingham-based actor has collected an extensive acting resume in screen as well as stage. His most notable roles are the 2019 feature The Lost Okoroshi and the 2021 series Blood of Enogie. In the latter case, he won an Edisa Award for playing Prince Adewale. Recently, Destiny starred as the lead in the Nigerian-produced film, Fading Echoes, released this past summer at the 2024 RTF Festival at Worcester.
Amidst acting, Destiny is the Co-founding BDots Studio, the award-winning, Nigerian-based dance studio company, in 2015. He has also worked with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) as a volunteer theatre performer and choreographer in creating awareness of irregular migration, sponsored by the European Union.
Destiny works exceptionally hard to make a name for himself and for black people across the industry and the histories. When asked the importance of embodying Laroche and his life, Destiny considered it a ‘privilege’. “It’s my dream to tell a story as unique as this,” he said, “People need to see how he sacrificed his life to help his family and I hope we make something that can touch the world.”
As the curtains closed, LaRoche left a lasting impression. It serves as a vigorous vocal point for to not only a man who strived for greatness amidst segregation, but many others the marginalised and underrepresented across the histories and in today’s generation. The dramatization of Laroche’s shortcomings shall hopefully echo through generations after Dr Norwood’s script stands as a reminder of the untold stories that still await discovery and representation.
The play was written and directed by Dr Carlette L Norwood with Ryan J as the Stage Manager. It starred Destiny Osagiede, Christina Appana, Torian Williams, Jack Loy, Allison Weir, Kerry Frater, Oscar Mackie, Jack Phillips.
