Writing black back: an overview of black theatre and performance in Britain

Abstract

Black people have lived in Britain longer than they have in the United States and yet, until the closing decade of the twentieth century, their contribution to British theatre has received limited and short-lived attention. In this essay I trace a trajectory of representation of black people in theatre from the early modern through to the pre-Windrush period to recognize that which has paved the way to the increasing visibility of contemporary black British playwrights of African descent in theatre of the new millennium.