The conversations thrown up by Black Lives Matter and Covid have ushered in an exciting new era for Black stage creatives. Those at the forefront explain why it needs to be more than a passing trend
We are in a new golden age for Black British theatre. Over the last two years, a raft of productions from Black theatre-makers have been making waves, garnering critical acclaim and exciting audiences. Black writers and directors are relishing telling the stories that they want to tell and are undeterred in getting them on stage. Alongside plays and musicals, productions that interweave drama, movement, music and even verbatim theatre are coming to the fore, creating a diverse ecology of storytelling that aims to inspire more Black writers and directors into the industry.
This moment has been a long time coming. In the 1950s, three writers – Wole Soyinka, Errol John and Barry Reckord – paved the way for Black writers when their plays were staged at the Royal Court in London. Between the 1960s and 80s, many Black writers and actors were denied opportunities for regular work and turned to forming collectives and theatre companies to create and stage their plays. Many failed to survive without continued public funding. Contrast that with today, when three theatre companies – Croydon-based Talawa, Eclipse and Tiata Fahodzi, which focuses on the changing African diaspora in Britain – receive regular funding from Arts Council England.
