That Black Theatre Podcast: An interview with Winsome Pinnock
11/16/20 • 54 min
This week we have a really exciting episode: an interview and discussion dedicated to the brilliant and prominent playwright and academic, Winsome Pinnock. Winsome is one of the best-known playwrights working in Britain today. We were lucky enough to speak to her about what it means to be a Black playwright, the history of her work in theatre, how the British theatre industry has changed and what more work needs to be done, and her latest play, Rockets and Blue Lights. Sometimes referred to as the 'godmother' of Black British theatre, Winsome's plays are far-reaching in the themes they explore, spanning a variety of different political, historical and social issues; from drug trafficking to racial profiling, to migration and gender politics, to the Atlantic slave trade. Her awards include: The George Devine Award, Pearson Plays on Stage Award for best play, Unity Theatre Trust Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Special Commendation, and Alfred Fagon Award for best new play 2018.
Thank you so much to Winsome for chatting with us!
To follow Winsome's work you can find her website here: https://winsomepinnock.co.uk/index.php
Email [email protected]
Social @nationaltheatre
References:
Winsome Pinnock (2020) Rockets and Blue Lights. London: NHB
Winsome Pinnock (2018) Leave Taking. London: NHB
Winsome Pinnock (2005) One Under. London: Faber & Faber.
Winsome Pinnock (1996) Mules. London: Faber & Faber
Winsome Pinnock (1993) ‘A Hero’s Welcome’ in Kadija George (ed) (2018) Six Plays by Black and Asian Women Writers. Twickenham: Aurora Metro Press, pp.23-70.
This week we have a really exciting episode: an interview and discussion dedicated to the brilliant and prominent playwright and academic, Winsome Pinnock. Winsome is one of the best-known playwrights working in Britain today. We were lucky enough to speak to her about what it means to be a Black playwright, the history of her work in theatre, how the British theatre industry has changed and what more work needs to be done, and her latest play, Rockets and Blue Lights. Sometimes referred to as the 'godmother' of Black British theatre, Winsome's plays are far-reaching in the themes they explore, spanning a variety of different political, historical and social issues; from drug trafficking to racial profiling, to migration and gender politics, to the Atlantic slave trade. Her awards include: The George Devine Award, Pearson Plays on Stage Award for best play, Unity Theatre Trust Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Special Commendation, and Alfred Fagon Award for best new play 2018.
Thank you so much to Winsome for chatting with us!
To follow Winsome's work you can find her website here: https://winsomepinnock.co.uk/index.php
Email [email protected]
Social @nationaltheatre
References:
Winsome Pinnock (2020) Rockets and Blue Lights. London: NHB
Winsome Pinnock (2018) Leave Taking. London: NHB
Winsome Pinnock (2005) One Under. London: Faber & Faber.
Winsome Pinnock (1996) Mules. London: Faber & Faber
Winsome Pinnock (1993) ‘A Hero’s Welcome’ in Kadija George (ed) (2018) Six Plays by Black and Asian Women Writers. Twickenham: Aurora Metro Press, pp.23-70.
Previous Episode
That Black Theatre Podcast: Black Women Time,1980s -1990s, Jackie Kay, Valerie Mason-John and Lynette Goddard
This week, we discuss the position of Black women playwrights in the 1980s and 1990s. We talk to Professor Lynette Goddard (Royal Holloway University) about the politics of representation and Black lesbian and queer playwrights, including Jackie Kay and Valerie Mason-John. We talk about Jackie Kay’s Chiaroscuro, which looks at sisterhood and the plurality of Black women’s experiences. We also include a clip and discussion from Valerie Mason-John’s play, Sin Dykes, which discusses inter-racial lesbian relationships, BDSM and legacies of racial trauma.
Email [email protected]
Social @nationaltheatre
References:
Jackie Kay (1987/2011) ‘Chiaroscuro’ in Lynette Goddard (ed.) The Methuen Drama Book of Plays by Black British Writers. London: Bloomsbury, pp.59-119
Valerie Mason-John (1998) Play script of Sin Dykes MPS 11988 (British Library, Archives and Manuscripts).
Colin Chambers (2011) Black and Asian Theatre in Britain: A History. London & New York: Routledge.
Peter Fryer (1984) Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain. London: Pluto Press.
Peter Fryer (1985) Black People in the British Empire: An Introduction. London: Pluto Classics.
Lynette Goddard (2007) Staging Black Feminisms: Identity, Politics, Performance. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dimple Godiwala (2006) Alternatives Within the Mainstream: British Black and Asian Theatre. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press.
Ashley Tellis (2007) ‘We Sinful Dykes: Lesbian Sexuality in Valerie Mason-John's Sin Dykes’ in Dimple Godiwala (ed.) Alternatives Within the Mainstream II: Queer Theatres in Post-War Britain. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press, pp.239-247
Next Episode
That Black Theatre Podcast: 2000s, the ‘renaissance’ in Black theatre, debbie tucker green and Lynette Goddard
This week we discuss the question of whether there was a ‘renaissance’ in Black theatre during the 2000s and the work of debbie tucker green, with the prominent academic, Professor Lynette Goddard. We talk about the unprecedented mainstream presence of several Black playwrights in Britain during the 2000s, with specific focus on debbie tucker green’s play ‘random’, which details a day in the life of a Black British family which is tragically shaken through a random act of violence. Thanks so much to Lynette for offering your time and wisdom to this episode!
Email [email protected]
Social @nationaltheatre
References
debbie tucker green (2018) debbie tucker green plays: one. London: NHB
Sian Adiseshiah, Jacqueline Bolton (ed.) (2020) debbie tucker green: critical perspectives. Hampshire, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mary F. Brewer, Lynette Goddard and Deirdre Osborne (2015) Modern and Contemporary Black British Drama. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan
Colin Chambers (2011) Black and Asian Theatre in Britain: A History. London & New York: Routledge.
Lynette Goddard (2007) Staging Black Feminisms: Identity, Politics, Performance. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lynette Goddard, ‘Lynette Goddard on the renaissance in black British drama in the 1990s’, The Black Plays Archive. https://www.blackplaysarchive.org.uk/featured-content/essays/lynette-goddard-rennaisance-black-british-drama-1990s
Lynette Goddard (2015) Contemporary Black British Playwrights: Margins to Mainstream. Hampshire, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dan Rebellato (ed.) (2013) Modern British Playwriting: 2000-2009. London: Bloomsbury.
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