Mustapha Matura came to Britain from Trinidad in 1961; a volume of his plays has been published by Methuen Drama. Jackie Kay is an award-winning poet, playwright and novelist whose poetry is studied at GCSE. Winsome Pinnock is a playwright and lecturer in creative writing at London Metropolitan University. Roy Williams has three volumes of plays published by Methuen Drama. Kwame Kwei-Armah is a TV presenter and playwright with a volume of plays published by Methuen Drama. Bola Agbage has had three plays produced in London and published by Methuen Drama.
Mustapha Matura was born in Trinidad and came to England in 1961. His first full length play , As Time Goes By, was staged at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh and at the Royal Court, London. He won the Evening Standard's Most Promising Playwright Award in 1974 for Play Mas, which opened at the Royal Court and transferred to the West End. His other plays include Rum an' Coca Cola (Royal Court Theatre and off-Broadway, 1976); Another Tuesday and More, More (The Factory, London, 1978); A Dying Business (Riverside Studios, 1980); One Rule (Riverside Studios, 1981); Meetings ( New 'York 1981 and Hampstead Theatre, London 1982)The Playboy of the West Indies (Oxford Playhouse, 1984, Tricycle Theatre , New York 1988 and produced for BBC television, 1985); Trinidad Sisters (Tricycle Theatre, 1988) and The Coup (Royal National Theatre, 1991).
He co-founded the Black Theatre Co-operative with the director Charlie Hanson in 1978 to stage the groundbreaking Welcome Home Jacko and subsequently to write the highly successful TV series No Problem!
Many of his plays have been seen in major cities in the USA, notably The Playboy of the West Indies, first staged by Oxford Playhouse (1984) and seen on BBC (1985). The Three Sisters was revived at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 2006 and a national tour followed. In 2010 Rum an' Coca Cola was staged at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, followed by a national tour. In 2015 Play Mas was revived at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond. The Royal National Theatre of Trinidad&Tobago staged a production of Play Mas in 2017 , followed by a production of Trinidad Sisters in 2018. Recognition of Mustapha's achievements include the George Devine Award and John Whiting Award in 1971 for As Time Goes By and the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award in 1974 for Play Mas. Other awards include the Trinidad National Award, the Scarlet Ibis Gold in 1991, and the Helen Hayes Award in 1994 for A Small World. In 2014 he was the first recipient of the Alfred Fagon Award for Outstanding Contribution to Writing. He was made an Honorary Fellow of Goldsmiths, University of London in 2016.
Matura died in 2019 at the age of seventy-nine. A celebration of his life and work was held at the Young Vic in March 2020.
In April 2021 the Mustapha Matura Award and Mentoring Programme was launched, alongside The Alfred Fagon Award. The competition is open to newly emerging and young black playwrights of Caribbean and African descendant up to the age of 25 and includes a cash prize of £3,000 and a nine month mentoring programme with a leading Black British playwright.
Jackie Kay was born and brought up in Scotland. She is the author of – among other books – The Adoption Papers, which won the Forward Prize, Red Dust Road, winner of the Scottish Book of the Year Award, Trumpet, and the Costa-shortlisted
Fiere. She is Chancellor of the University of Salford and Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University. She has served as Scots Makar, the National Poet for Scotland, since March 2016.
Winsome Pinnock was born in London. Her award-winning plays include The Wind of Change (Half Moon Theatre, 1987), Leave Taking (Liverpool Playhouse Studio and National Theatre, 1988), Picture Palace (Women's Theatre Group, 1988), A Hero's Welcome (Women's Playhouse Trust at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989), A Rock in Water (Royal Court Young People's Theatre at the Theatre Upstairs, 1989), Talking in Tongues (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1991), Mules (Clean Break Theatre Company, 1996) and One Under (Tricycle Theatre, 2005). She has also written for radio and television. She is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at London Metropolitan University.
Roy Williams, OBE, worked as an actor before turning to writing full-time in 1990. He graduated from Rose Bruford in 1995 with a first class BA Hons degree in Writing and participated in the 1997 Carlton Television screenwriter's course. The No Boys Cricket Club (Theatre Royal, Stratford East, 1996) won him nominations for the TAPS Writer of the Year Award 1996 and for New Writer of the Year Award 1996 by the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. He was the first recipient of the Alfred Fagon Award 1997 for Starstruck (Tricycle Theatre, London, 1998), which also won the 31st John Whiting Award and the EMMA Award 1999. Lift Off (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1999) was the joint winner of the George Devine Award 2000. His other plays include: Night and Day (Theatre Venture, 1996); Josie's Boys (Red Ladder Theatre Co., 1996); Souls (Theatre Centre, 1999); Local Boy (Hampstead Theatre, 2000); The Gift (Birmingham Rep/Tricycle Theatre, 2000); Clubland (Royal Court, 2001), winner of the Evening Standard Charles Wintour Award for the Most Promising Playwright; Fallout (Royal Court Theatre, 2003) which was made for television by Company Pictures/Channel 4; Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (National Theatre, 2002, 2004), Little Sweet Thing (New Wolsey, Ipswich/ Nottingham Playhouse/Birmingham Rep, 2005), Slow Time (National Theatre Education Department tour, 2005), Days of Significance (Swan Theatre, Stratfordupon- Avon, 2007), Absolute Beginners (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, 2007), Joe Guy (Tiata Fahodzi/Soho Theatre, 2007), Baby Girl (National Theatre, 2007), Out of the Fog (Almeida Theatre, 2007), There's Only One Wayne Matthews (Polka Theatre, 2007), Category B (Tricycle Theatre, 2009) and Sucker Punch (Royal Court, 2010). He also contributed A Chain Play (Almeida Theatre, 2007) and Sixty Six (Bush Theatre, 2011). His screenplays include Offside, winner of a BAFTA for Best Schools Drama 2002. His radio plays include Tell Tale, Homeboys, Westway, which was broadcast as part of Radio 4 First Bite Young Writers' Festival, To Sir with Love, and The Interrogation. He also wrote Babyfather for BBC TV. He was awarded the OBE for Services to Drama in the 2008 Birthday Honours List.
Kwame Kwei-Armah is British actor, playwright, director, singer and broadcaster. In 2018 he was made Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre, where he has directed Twelfth Night and Tree.
From 2011 to 2018 he was the Artistic Director of Baltimore Center Stage where his directing credits include: Jazz, Marley, One Night in Miami, Amadeus, and Dance of the Holy Ghosts.
As a playwright his credits include Tree (Manchester International Festival, Young Vic), One Love (Birmingham Repertory Theatre), Beneatha's Place (Baltimore Center Stage) Elmina's Kitchen, Fix Up, Statement of Regret (National Theatre) Let There Be Love and Seize the Day (Tricycle Theatre).
Kwame was an Associate Director of the Donmar Warehouse and has served on the boards of the National Theatre, Tricycle Theatre, and Theatre Communications Group. He is Chair of the 2019 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, was Chancellor of the University of the Arts London from 2010 to 2015, and in 2012 was awarded an OBE for Services to Drama.
Bola Agbaje is a playwright who graduated from the young writers programme at the Royal Court in 2007. Her first play Gone Too Far! was performed at the Royal Court Theatre (Upstairs) in February 2007. In 2008, the play won the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliated Theatre. The play was revived in 2008 and returned for a run in the main Downstairs space at the Court, as well as at the Hackney Empire and Albany Theatre. Agbaje was also nominated for the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright of the Year in 2008. Other plays include Off the Endz and Belong.
Lynette Goddard is Professor of Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.
