'We're here!' The black playwrights storming the West End

Smash hits by black British playwrights were few and far between. Now Arinzé Kene and Natasha Gordon have work in the West End – and they’re changing the audiences too In 1957, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl by Trinidad-born dramatist Errol John won a playwriting contest organised by the Observer – but its promised West End run was rejected by producers who deemed it unsuitable for audiences. They didn’t think it would sell tickets, so a year later it opened at the Royal Court instead. We can only wonder what the landscape of black British theatre would look like today if the West End production had gone ahead.Now 60 years on, two smash hits by black British playwrights have transferred to the West End at once: Arinzé Kene’s Misty is currently at Trafalgar Studios, where Natasha Gordon’s Nine Night will open in December. First staged at the Bush and the National Theatre respectively, both hits are on course to widen the image of what a West End playwright looks like. Continue reading…
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