IT IS one of the questions that society must continue to ask itself.

But never has the meaning of freedom and slavery had more resonance than now, the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade.

Don Letts is a cult figure in the arts world. He’s a film-maker and music maverick and the man said to have introduced punks to reggae.

Next week, he brings to Huddersfield a project which harnesses the power of the British rap and spoken word scene in a powerful stage production. It is a performance which uses music, words and drama to explore the legacy of the slave trade and of contemporary slavery in its widest sense.

Letts says that his aim is to create a work that is both thought provoking and uplifting; a call to action to generate positive change. With his track record and a team of the UK’s brightest voices, the call surely cannot fail to be heard.

The piece is called Speaker’s Corner and it arrives at the Lawrence Batley Theatre on Thursday after performances in Deptford, Leicester and Bracknell.

The project, under the curatorship by Letts, brings together some of the UK’s most exciting spoken word artists working in grime, hip hop, poetry and songwriting.

Speaker’s Corner has given these young artists an opportunity to articulate their own personal and cultural histories brought together under the direction of Letts, theatre director Leo Kay and musical director Dobie.

The seven artists involved were selected by Letts through a workshop process aimed at bringing together writers from different backgrounds and practices.

Arabic poetess Yusra shares a stage with hip hop producer Skinnyman, beatboxer MadFlow sits alongside musician and poet Shane Solanki. And it is through this diversity of experiences that Speaker’s Corner explores a wealth of ideas about our past, present and future.

Perhaps the best known of the featured artists is the Leeds-born, adopted Londoner Skinnyman, whose 2004 debut, Council Estate of Mind set him up alongside Dizzy Rascal as a poet with a flow that captured the imagination.

In contrast sits the powerful presence of Malika Booker; a poetess celebrated for her work which explores sexual politics and racial tensions.

Each poet has been commissioned to write three pieces around themes of slavery, and has been encouraged to extend these themes to explore a broader range of issues; depictions of historic slavery, poignant stories of modern day slavery, of the tension between a desire for individuality and the pressure of cultural traditions and contemporary society’s enslavement to money and the media.

The project is being produced by Birmingham REP working in partnership with the Albany, Deptford and Contact Theatre, Manchester.

Box office is on 01484 430528.