The Methuen Drama Book of Plays by Black British Writers: Welcome Home Jacko; Chiaroscuro; Talking in Tongues; Sing Yer Heart Ou

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Methuen Drama Book of Plays by Black British Writers: Welcome Home Jacko; Chiaroscuro; Talking in Tongues; Sing Yer Heart Ou
Authors and Contributors      Edited by Lynette Goddard
By (author) Mustapha Matura
By (author) Jackie Kay
By (author) Winsome Pinnock
By (author) Roy Williams
SeriesPlay Anthologies
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:496
Dimensions(mm): Height 198,Width 129
Category/GenrePlays, playscripts
ISBN/Barcode 9781408131244
ClassificationsDewey:822.91408096
Audience
General
Tertiary Education (US: College)

Publishing Details

Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint Methuen Drama
Publication Date 25 February 2011
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

The Methuen Drama Book of Plays by Black British Writers provides an essential anthology of six of the key plays that have shaped the trajectory of British black theatre from the late-1970s to the present day. In doing so it charts the journey from specialist black theatre companies to the mainstream, including West End success, while providing a cultural and racial barometer for Britain during the last forty years. It opens with Mustapha Matura's 1979 play Welcome Home Jacko which in its depiction of a group of young unemployed West Indians was one of the first to explore issues of youth culture, identity and racial and cultural identification. Jackie Kay's Chiaroscuro examines debates about the politics of black, mixed race and lesbian identities in 1980s Britain, and from the 1990s Winsome Pinnock's Talking in Tongues engages with the politics of feminism to explore issues of black women's identity in Britian and Jamaica. From the first decade of the twenty-first century the three plays include Roy Williams' seminal pub-drama Sing Yer Hearts Out for the Lads, exploring racism and identity against the backdrop of the World Cup; Kwame Kwei-Armah's National Theatre play of 2004, Fix Up, about black cultural history and progress in modern Britain, and finally Bola Agbage's terrific 2007 debut, Gone Too Far!, which examines questions of identity and tensions between Africans and Caribbeans living in Britain. Edited by Lynnette Goddard, this important anthology provides an essential introduction to the last forty years of British black theatre.

Author Biography

Six important black British playwrights whose work spans four decades.

Reviews

'The Methuen Drama Book of Plays by Black British Writers is a rich read - or source of performance ideas - for students and others. Work by playwrights such as Jackie kay, Kwame Kwei-Armah and Roy Williams is included.' * Stage *