Black Playwrights in Britain in Print

 

The following bibliography lists the work of those Afro-Caribbean and Asian playwrights whose work has been published - and in most cases produced - in Britain. Where the publisher’s name given below e.g. Faber or NHB for Nick Hern Books is followed by a second date, this indicates that the publication date differs substantially from the first production date, which usually appears in brackets with the producing company. Where a writer is based primarily in Britain though African (Biyi Bandele) or American by birth (Bonnie Greer), or has been substantially produced or formerly based in Britain though they may now be resident in the US or the Caribbean, they have been included in the listings of Black British playwrights e.g Edgar White. All books should be assumed to be published in London unless otherwise indicated. Year and country of birth of playwright is given, where known, next to their name.

            This bibliography forms a small part of a much larger project to collect information and if possible documentary material - scripts, publicity, programmes- on any black  (British or otherwise) playwright produced in Britain, which is being developed by the Theatre Museum as part of its strategy better to document Black theatre in Britain from the earliest times to the present day. If you would like a copy of  the extensive bibliography of produced and published plays or could contribute details or documentary evidence of productions or hard-to-find publications, please contact:

 

Susan Croft, Curator of Contemporary Performance

at the

Theatre Museum, 1E Tavistock St, London WC2E 7PR

s.croft@vam.ac.uk

 

A

Michael Abbensetts (Guyana, 1938)

Sweet Talk (Royal Court) 1973
Samba (Tricycle), 1980. Both Methuen.

Also

Alterations
In the Mood (Hampstead)
El Dorado (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
all in Michael Abbensetts Four Plays, Oberon, 2001

John Agard

Odessa and the Magic Goat in Plays For Children ed. Helen Rose, Faber, 2000

Rukshana Ahmad

         Song for a Sanctuary (Kali, 1990 also radio) in Six Plays by Black and Asian Women ed. Khadija George, Aurora Metro, 1993

Fred D'Aguiar

        A Jamaican Airman Foresees His Death in Black Plays 3  ed. Yvonne Brewster, Methuen, 1993

 

Tariq Ali

Iranian Nights (with Howard Brenton) Nick Hern Books (i.e NHB)
Necklaces (Talawa) NHB,
Consequences (with Bolt and others, Gate Theatre Benefit) NHB,
Moscow Gold (RSC), NHB, 1990
Ugly Rumours, (Tricycle) NHB, 1998
Collateral Damage (with Brenton, de la Tour, produced Tricycle Theatre) Oberon, 1999
Snogging Ken (with Brenton) Oberon, 2000

The Illustrious Corpse (Leicester Haymarket) Oberon, 2003

Karim Alrawi (Egypt, 1953)

        A Colder Climate (Joint Stock) Methuen,1986

        Migrations, Playwrights Press, 1982

Mulk Raj Anand

        Untouchable (novel adapted by Tamasha, 1989 – see under Bhuchar)

Nkemba Asika (aka Frank John)

         orange lady (self-published, no date)

 

B

Harwant Bains (1963)

         Blood (Royal Court) Methuen 1988

         Indian Summer (RNT, 1995) in Making Scenes Short Plays for Young Actors 3, Methuen, 1995

Shango Baku (Trinidad)

         One Bad Casa

         Revo

         Ruby, My Dear

         in Three Plays of Our Time Trinidad: Baku Publications, 1984

Parv Bancil

         Made in England (BAC, 1998) in Black and Asian Plays Anthology ed. Cheryl Robson, Aurora Metro, 2000

         Crazyhorse (Paines Plough) Faber, 1997

Biyi Bandele

Marching for Fausa (Royal Court)
Two Horsemen (Gate, Bush) also in Best of the Fest ed. Phil Setren, Aurora Metro, 1998
Resurrections (Talawa)
Death Catches the Hunter (Wild Iris, BAC)
Oroonoko (RSC,1999)  All Amber Lane Press
Brixton Stories (Tricycle, 2001) and Happy Birthday, Mister Deka D (Traverse Theatre, 1999) Methuen, 2001

Bennette-Hume, Peggy,

The Girl who Wished (Carib Theatre, Tricycle Theatre 1985) New Millennium, 1997

Bhatti, Gurpreet Kaur

Behsharam = (Shameless) (Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company and Soho Theatre Company) Oberon, 2001.

Bezhti (Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company), Oberon, 2004

Sudha Bhuchar and Kristine Langdon-Smith,

House of the Sun (from Meira Chand, Theatre Royal StratfordEast 1991)
A Tainted Dawn (Edinburgh, 1997)

Untouchable from Mulk Raj Anand (Riverside Studios 1989)

All Tamasha, all NHB 2000

Fourteen Songs, Two Weddings and a Funeral (adapted for the stage from Rajshri Productions' film Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Tamasha, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith co-production, 2001) Methuen, 2001

Paul Boakye

            Wicked Games NY: Smith and Kraus, 1997

            Boy with  Beer (Man in the Moon 1993) in Black Plays 3  ed. Yvonne Brewster, Methuen, 1993

Wayne Buchanan

Under Their Influence (Oval House 2000) in Black and Asian Plays Anthology ed. Cheryl Robson, Aurora Metro, 2000 and individually Aurora Metro, 2001

C

Ruth Carter

            A Yearning, from Lorca’s Yerma (Tamasha, Birmingham Rep, 1996) NHB 2000

            Women of the Dust (Tamasha, Bristol Old Vic, 1992), all NHB.

Debjani Chatterjee

 

 

Maya Chowdhry

            Monsoon (radio, 1991 also stage, 1993) in Six Plays by Black and Asian       Women ed. Khadija George, Aurora Metro, 1993

 

Trish Cooke (1962)

Back Street Mammy  in First Run 2: New Plays by New Writers ed. Kate     Harwood, NHB, 1990 ext. in Dead Proud: from Second Wave Young Women Playwrights  eds. Ann Considine & Robyn Slovo, Women's Press Livewires, 1987
No Place Like Home ext. in Dead Proud: from Second Wave Young Women Playwrights  eds. Ann Considine & Robyn Slovo, Women's Press Livewires, 1987
Running Dream (Theatre Royal Stratford East 1993) in Female Voices, Fighting Lives: Seven Plays by Women ed. Cheryl Robson, Aurora Metro, 1991

 

D

Tracey Daley, Jo Martin and Josephine Melville, Shoot 2 Win, (Theatre Royal Stratford East) Oberon, 2002


Dawes, Kwame, One Love (Talawa, 2001) Methuen

Grace Dayley

            Grace's Story (Cockpit, 1986) in Plays by Women vol 4  ed. Michelene Wandor, Methuen, 1985

Dolly Dhingra

            Unsuitable Girls, Oberon, 2001

Farrukh Dhondy

            Romance, Romance

            The Bride         Both Faber, 1985.

           

E

Michael Ellis

            Chameleon (Temba, 1985) in Black Plays 1 ed. Yvonne Brewster, Methuen, 1989

            A Temporary Rupture (Black Theatre Co-op, 1988) in Livingroom ed. John Agard, Black Ink, 1983

Bernardine Evaristo

Pyeyucca  (with Hilaire, Theatre of Black Women, 1985) extracts in Passion: Discourses on Blackwomen’s Creativity ed. Maud Sulter, Hebden Bridge: Urban Fox, 1990

 

F

Alfred Fagon (Jamaica 1937-86)

11 Josephine House (BTC, 1987) Oberon 2000
Lonely Cowboy (Tricycle 1985) in Black Plays 1 ed. Yvonne Brewster, Methuen, 1989
and with The Death of a Black Man in Alfred Fagon Plays, Oberon, 2001

Dorcas Faku (with Diane Taylor)

            Wenzani: What Are You Doing? (West 6), Polypton and West 6, 1984

 

G

Jamila Gavin

Monkey in the stars : a play for children  (adapted from the author's own novel, a re-telling of the epic poem 'The Ramayana'. London: Samuel French, 2001.

Nandita Ghose

Ishtar Descends (Second Wave, Albany Empire) in Second Wave Plays: Women at the Albany Empire ed.Frances Gray, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,1990

Killean Gideon

 England is De Place for Me (Second Wave) in Second Wave Plays: Women at the Albany Empire ed.Frances Gray, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,1990

Ray Harrison Graham

Sympathy for the Devil (Graeae, Oval House, 1996) in Graeae Plays: New Plays Redefining Disability, Aurora Metro, 2002

 

Debbie Tucker Green Dirty Butterfly (Soho Theatre) NHB, 2003

Bonnie Greer (USA, 1948)

            Munda Negra in Black Plays 3 ed. Yvonne  Brewster, Methuen, 1993

            Vigil Part II in Acting Up!: Heresies  vol 5., no.1, issue 17

Ray Grewal

My Dad's Corner Shop (Birmingham Repertory Theatre presents the Sir Barry Jackson Community Tour) Faber, 2000

Tanika Gupta

            Skeleton, from Tagore (Soho TC,1997)

            The Waiting Room (Cottesloe, RNT 2000) Both Faber.

            Sanctuary, (Cottesloe, 2002) Oberon

           

H

Gloria Hamilton

            Mercy, (Umoja) extract published, details unknown

Patricia Hilaire

            See under Evaristo

Errol Hill (Trinidad, 1921  also carnival theorist and writer)           

Man Better Man  in A Time and a Season ed. Errol Hill, Trinidad: Dept of Extra-Mural Studies, University of the West Indies 1976 and in The Yale School of Drama Presents ed. J. Gassner, New Haven: Yale UP, c1964

Tyrone Huggins

            Sounds in Session Oberon, 2002

 

I

Tunde Ikoli

            Scrape off the Black, Oberon 1999

            Sleeping Policemen (with Howard Brenton) Methuen, 1984

            The Lower Depths (Tricycle, 1986) in Black Plays 1 ed. Yvonne Brewster, Methuen, 1989

 

J

Pauline Jacobs and the Bemarro Sisters

A Slice of Life (Second Wave), ext. Dead Proud: from Second Wave Young Women Playwrights  eds. Ann Considine & Robyn Slovo, Women's Press Livewires, 1987

Lennie James

            Trial and Error (National Youth Theatre) in Plays Introduction, Faber, 1984

 

Soraya Jinton

Lalita's Way (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs) in First Lines: Young Writers at the Royal Court ed. Elyse Dodgson, Hodder & Stoughton, 1990

Errol John (Trinidad, 1924-1988)

 Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (RC 1956, Almeida 1988, also TV 1960) Faber, 1958 and in The Observer Plays, Faber, 1958
 Force Majeure
Hasta Luego
The Dispossessed All screen, all Faber, 1967

Jennifer Jordan (aged 12)

The Colour Black in ACER’s Black Young Writers’ Awards ed. Paul McGilchrist, ACER Centre, 1987   

Abhijat Joshi

            A Shaft of Sunlight, (Tamasha Birmingham Rep 1994) NHB 2000

 

K

Shan Kahn

            Office (Faber, 2001)

Jackie Kay (Scotland, 1961)

   Chiaroscuro (Theatre of Black Women) in Lesbian Plays  ed. Jill  Davis, Methuen, 1987
    Twice Over  (Gay Sweatshop) Gay Sweatshop: Four Plays and a Company ed.Philip Osment, Methuen, 1989
Generations in Mythic Women / Real Women ed. Lizbeth Goodman,

  Faber, 2000

“Take-Away” in International Connections:New Plays for Young People, Faber 2002

Lisselle Kayla

When Last I Did See You ext. in Dead Proud: from Second Wave Young Women Playwrights  eds. Ann Considine & Robyn Slovo, Women's Press Livewires, 1987

Basir Sultan Kazmi (Pakistan, 1955)

            The Chess Board, Pennine Pens, 1997

Ayub Khan-Din

            East is East (Tamasha, Theatre Royal Stratford East, 1996, film 1999) NHB,

            Last Dance at Dum-Dum (New Ambassadors, 1999) NHB

 

Ash Kotak

            Hijra (Plymouth and Bush, 2000), Oberon 2001

 

Hanif Kuresihi

The King and Me (1980)
Birds of Passage (1981) Amber Lane Press, 1983
Outskirts (1992?)
Borderline (Joint Stock / Royal Court) Methuen 1981
All as Hanif Kureishi Plays One, Faber 1998
My Beautiful Laundrette(screenplay) 1986
Sammy and Rosie get Laid (screenplay), 1988
London Kills Me (screenplay) 1991
Sleep With Me (RNT, 1999)
My Son the Fanatic (screenplay, 1998)

       When the Night Begins (Hampstead, 2004)     All Faber           

L

Earl Lovelace

The Dragon Can't Dance (Stratford East 1990) in Black Plays 2 ed. Yvonne Brewster, Methuen, 1989
The New Hardware Store (Carib 1985)
My Name is Village
Jestina's Calypso all in Jestina's Calypso and Other Plays, Heinemann, 1984

 

M

Afshan Malik

            Safar, Parthian, 1999

Valerie Mason-John (aka Queenie)

            Brown Girl in the Ring, London: Get a Grip, 1999

Mustapha Matura

Black Pieces (Inter Action, 1970)
Indian (1970)
My Enemy
As Time Goes By (1971) All Calder and Boyars, 1972
Play Mas (1974)
Independence (1979)
Meetings (1981) All Methuen, 1982
Rum an’ Coca Cola (1976)
Welcome Home Jacko  (BTC, 1979)
Nice (BTC, 1980, also TV 1984) All Methuen 1980
Playboy of the West Indies (Tricycle, 1984, also TV 1985)
NY: Broadway Play Publishing, 1984
Collected Plays, Methuen 1992
The Coup (Methuen, 1991)

Jenny McLeod (1963)

            Island Life (Monstrous Regiment, 1987) in Monstrous Regiment: A CollectiveCelebration ed. Gillian Hanna, Nick Hern Books, 1991

            Raising Fires, (Bush, LWT Plays on Stage winner ) Bush Plays, 1993

            The Wake (TV) in Debut on Two ed. Vicky Licorish and Philippa Giles, BBC Books, 1990

Michael McMillan

            The School Leaver, Black Ink Collective, 1978

            On Duty,  Akira Press, 1986

             Brother to Brother (Lyric Hammersmith and tour) in Black and Asian Plays Anthology ed. Cheryl Robson, Aurora Metro, 2000

 

Nigel Moffatt (Jamaica) 1954

            Mamma Decemba (Temba) Faber, 1985

 

Charles Mulekwa (Nigeria)

            A Time of Fire (The Door, Birmingham Rep, 2000) NHB

Sandra Mundle (aged 16)

The Chains Have Been Broken But the Doors Haven’s Opened in ACER’s Black Young Writers’ Awards ed. Paul McGilchrist, ACER Centre, 1987   

 

N

Amani Napthali

            Ragamuffin (Double Edge, 198) Oberon, 2002

 

O

Marie Oshodi

            Blood Sweat & Fears  in Black Plays 2 ed. Yvonne Brewster, Methuen, 1989

            The S Bend (Royal Ct YPT, 1986) in Festival Plays ed. David Sulkin, Harlow: Longman, 1986

Hound (Graeae, Oval House, 1992) in Graeae Plays: New Plays Redefining Disability, Aurora Metro, 2002

Ann Ogidi  (Nigeria,1965)

            Ragamuffin (radio) in Young Playwrights Festival 1988 ed. Jeremy Mortimer, BBC Books, 1988

Mewe Olugwu and Sharon Ellis (aged 19 and 20)

A Black British Childhood in ACER’s Black Young Writers’ Awards ed. Paul McGilchrist, ACER Centre, 1987   

           

P

Mandula Padmanabhan

            Harvest in Black and Asian Plays Anthology ed. Cheryl Robson, Aurora Metro, 2000

            Also individually, Aurora Metro, 2000

Caryl Phillips

            Strange Fruit, 1981   

            Where There is Darkness, 1982. Both Amber Lane,   

            Playing Away (TV), Faber, 1987

M. NourbeSe Philip

  Coups and Calypsos  (Talawa, 1999) in Testifyin’s: Contemporary African-Canadian Drama v1 ed. Djanet Sears, Toronto: Playwrights Canada, 2000

Winsome Pinnock (1961)

A Rock in Water  in Black Plays 2 ed. Yvonne Brewster, Methuen, 1989
Leave Taking in First Run: New Plays by New Writers ed. Kate Harwood,  NHB, 1989
Talking in Tongues (1991) in Black Plays 3 ed. Yvonne  Brewster, Methuen, 1993
A Hero's Welcome (Women’s Playhouse Trust, Royal Ct,1989) in Plays International and in Six Plays by Black and Asian Women ed. Khadija George, Aurora Metro, 1993
Mules  (Clean Break, 1996), Faber

Ayshe Raif  (Turkish, 1952)

         Café Society, Samuel French, 1981

Fail/ Safe (Soho Poly, 1986) in Female Voices, Fighting Lives: Seven Plays by Women ed. Cheryl Robson, Aurora Metro, 1991

         Caving In in Plays by Women vol 8 ed. Mary Remnant, Methuen, 1986

Barry Reckord (Jamaica)

            Skyvers, (Royal Court, 1963) Penguin

Trevor Rhone (Jamaica)  1940

Smile Orange (1970)
Old Story Time (1979) Both Longman, 1981
School’s Out (1975)
Two Can Play (1980) Both Longman, 1986

Sol River

            Moor Masterpieces (West Yorkshire Playhouse)

            To Rahtid (Talawa at Young Vic, 1996)

            Unbroken  (Phoenix Dance, 1997/8)

                        All in Plays 1, Oberon, 1998

            The White Witch of Rose Hall

            The Last Admittance of Man

            48-98

            Making Waves

            Walk Against Fear

                        All in Sol River Plays Two, Oberon, 2001

Beverley Rose

Darker the Berry (Second Wave) in Young Blood: Plays for Young Performers ed. Sally Goldsworthy, Aurora Metro, 1998

Jacqueline Rudet (Britain/Dominica, 1962)

Money to Live (BTC, 1984) in Plays by Women vol 5 ed. Mary Remnant,Methuen, 1986
Basin  (Temba, 1985) in Black Plays 1 ed. Yvonne  Brewster, Methuen, 1987

           

S

Saoud Saeed and Marcel Bonnefin

Free Credits (Royal Ct Theatre Upstairs, 1982) in Primary Sauce ed. David Sulkin, Royal Court YPT, 1983

Dennis Scott (Jamaica) 1939-1991

            An Echo In The Bone in Plays for Today ed. Errol Hill, Harlow: Longman, 1985

Wendy Scott (aged 12)

How Are We Going to Manage? in ACER’s Black Young Writers’ Awards ed. Paul McGilchrist, ACER Centre, 1987   

Samuel Selvon

            Eldorado West One Leeds: Peepal Tree Press, 1988

Shelley Silas

            Calcutta Kosher (Kali / Theatre Royal Stratford East, Aurora Metro 2004) also in Black and Asian Plays Anthology ed. Cheryl Robson,

            Aurora Metro, 2000, Falling (Bush, 2002) Oberon

Dorothea Smartt

            Medusa? Medusa Black! in Mythic Women / Real Women ed. Lizbeth Goodman, Faber, 2000

Maud Sulter

            Hysteria (CD, Tate Liverpool and Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal) 1991

Meera Syal

            My Sister Wife (TV) in Six Plays by Black and Asian Women ed. Khadija George, Aurora Metro, 1993

           

T

D.C Thompson

Is Class More Important than Race for Blacks in Britain Today? in ACER’s Black Young Writers’ Awards ed. Paul McGilchrist, ACER Centre, 1987      

Angela Turvey

A Fine Example in Theatre Centre: Plays for Young People ed. Rosamunde Hutte, forthcoming Aurora Metro 2003

 

U

 

V

Deepak Verma

Ghostdancing (Tamasha Theatre Company production at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre, Emile Zola's 'Therese Raquin' transposed to a small town in present-day Punjab. London : Methuen, 2001.

 

W

Derek Walcott (St Lucia) 1932

The Crucificado
The Life and Times of J. Walter Smintheus 
Both in The Crucificado: Two Plays NY: William Morrow, 1973
The Joker of Seville
O Babylon!
Both in The Joker of Seville and Other Plays, Cape, 1979
Beef No Chicken (Shaw 1989)
A Branch of the Blue
All in Three Plays NY: Farrar Strauss and Giroux
Ti Jean and His Brothers
Malcauachon or Six in the Rain
Dream on Monkey Mountain
All in Dream on Monkey Mountain and Other Plays, Cape, 1972
Pantomime (Temba, 1985)
Remembrance (Keskidee, then Carib 1990)
Both NY: Farrar Strauss and Giroux, 1980
The Odyssey Faber 1993

Roy Williams

Starstruck 1999 (Alfred Fagon Award 1997, Tricycle, 1998)
The “No Boys” Cricket Club 1999 (Stratford East 1996)
Lift Off (New Ambassadors 1999)     
Local Boy (Hampstead, 2000)
Clubland (Royal Court, 2001)
The Gift (Birmingham Repertory Theatre, 2000)
Sing Your Heart Out For The Lads (RNT, 2002) All Methuen

Souls in Theatre Centre: Plays for Young People ed. Rosamunde Hutte, forthcoming Aurora Metro 2003

Edgar White (Monserratt,1947)
The Boot Dance (Temba) 1984
Les femmes noires
Redemption Song (BTC, 1984)
All in Redemption Song and Other  Plays, Marion Boyars, 1985
Ritual    (BTC, 1985) published as Ritual By Water
The Nine Night (BTC, 1983) (Keskidee, Double Edge, 1988
Both Methuen, 1984
Like Them That Dream (Children of Ogun)
Trinity – The Long and Cheerful Road to Slavery
Lament for Rastafari (Keskidee)
All in  Lament for Rastafari and Other Plays, Marion Boyars, 1983
Fun in Lethe
The Wonderful Yeare
The Mummers’ Play
Underground
All in Underground: Four Plays NY: William Morrow, 1973

Sylvia Wynter (Jamaica)

Maskarade in West Indian Plays for Schools Trinidad: Dept of Extra-Mural Studies, University of the West Indies, 1979 (?)

           

Z

Benjamin Zephaniah (1958)

         Job Rockin  (Riverside, 1987) in Black Plays 2 ed. Yvonne Brewster, Methuen, 1989

         Hurricane Dub (radio, BBC 1988) in Young Playwrights Festival 1988 ed.   Jeremy Mortimer, BBC Books, 1988

Parents in Theatre Centre: Plays for Young People ed. Rosamunde Hutte, forthcoming Aurora Metro 2003

 

Zindika ( alt. Zindika  Macheol)

          Leonora's Dance (1992) in Six Plays by Black and Asian Women ed. Khadija George, Aurora Metro, 1993

 

Devised Plays

Motherland: West Indian Women to Britain in the 1950s scripted by Elyse Dodgson with Marcia Smith, Vauxhall Manor Girls School, Heinemann, 1984

 

Note

Among other sources I have been  indebted to the following in compiling this bibliography: Carole Woddis’ entries from the Bloomsbury Theatre Guide 1988 (ed. Woddis and Trevor R. Griffiths), the bibliography in Judy S.J. Stone’s Studies in West Indian Literature: Theatre (Macmillan, 1994), Stephen Bourne’s Black in the British Frame (Cassell, 1998, reissued Continuum 2001) and Prabhu Guptara’s Black British Literature (Dangeroo Press, 1986). For more information on many of the women playwrights listed please see my She Also Wrote Play: an International Guide to Women Playwrights from the 11th to the 21st Century, Faber, 2001.