The inspiring story of Floella Benjamin has been brought to life on stage with songs, laughter and an enormous amount of love.  Some of us will remember watching Floella on TV as a child but wouldn’t have known her extraordinary story of coming to England from Trinidad.

The story starts in the 1950's when her father saw an advertisement about starting a new life in England.  He jumped at the chance of them emigrating and travelled here first to set things up before sending for her mum and 2 youngest siblings.  The 4 older children were put in foster care for over a year but sadly they were not treated very kindly.  Finally they received the news they’d been waiting for and the 4 children aged 8-12 travelled by boat for 2 weeks from Trinidad to England with no parent to supervise them.

They were thrilled to be back together again but Floella couldn’t understand why they were treated so differently and both in and out of school she faced racism on a daily basis.  Her hard working parents taught all the children to stand tall and be brave and as she grew older she learnt to use a smile as her armour and went on to have a very successful education and career.

The show is truly inspiring and the cast have incredible energy on stage.  I took my daughter with me and she really enjoyed it from start to finish.  It certainly made me think about how hard life must have been for Floella and her family.

Coming to England is based on an award winning true story written by Floella Benjamin and adapted for the stage by David Wood.

Coming to England is suitable for children 8+ and is on in Poole until Saturday 15th February 2025.  For more information and tickets, please visit Lighthouse Poole.

Dorsetmums was invited to see Coming to England for the purpose of a review however all words are my own.