We are backstage - immediately after Paul Laurence Dunbar’s last UK recital in 1897. Dunbar is part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. This celebrated writer, who will later die at 33, recalls: 'It was both the height and the end'. Lifting the Mask celebrates the lyrics of the first African-American to gain international eminence as a verse maker. Inspired by Dunbar's life and works, LSW honours themes ranging from love and loneliness to slavery and the outcome of its historic mindset.