Winsome Pinnock

Winsome Pinnock (born 1961) is a British playwright of Jamaican heritage, who is "probably Britain's most well known black female playwright".[1] She was described in The Guardian as "the godmother of black British playwrights".[2]

Winsome Pinnock
Born1961
Islington, London, England
OccupationPlaywright
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish
EducationElizabeth Garrett Anderson School
Alma materGoldsmiths, University of London
Notable worksLeave Taking; Talking in Tongues; Mules

Life

Winsome Pinnock was born in Islington, North London, to parents who were both migrants from Smithville, Jamaica. Her mother was a cleaner, and her father a checker at Smithfield Meat Market.[3] Pinnock attended Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Comprehensive Girls' School (formerly Starcross School) in Islington, and graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London (1979–82) with a BA (Joint Honours) in English and Drama,[4] and from Birkbeck, University of London (1983) with an MA in Modern Literature in English.[5]

Pinnock's award-winning plays include The Winds of Change (Half Moon Theatre, 1987), Leave Taking (Liverpool Playhouse Studio, 1988; National Theatre, 1995),[6] Picture Palace (commissioned by the Women's Theatre Group, 1988),[7] A Hero's Welcome (Women's Playhouse Trust at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989), A Rock in Water (Royal Court Young People's Theatre at the Theatre Upstairs, 1989; inspired by the life of Claudia Jones),[8] Talking in Tongues (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1991), Mules (Clean Break, 1996) and One Under (Tricycle Theatre, 2005).[9] She also adapted Jean Rhys' short story 'Let Them Call It Jazz' for BBC Radio 4 in 1998, and has written screenplays and television episodes.[6]

Pinnock has been Visiting Lecturer at Royal Holloway College, University of London, and Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge. She lectures at Kingston University, London.[5]

Awards
  • 1991 George Devine Award
  • Unity Theatre Trust Award
  • Pearson Plays on Stage Award For Best Play of the Year
  • 2018 Alfred Fagon Award[10][11]

Selected works
  • The Winds Of Change, Half Moon Theatre, London, 1987.
  • Leave Taking, Playhouse, Liverpool, and National Theatre, London, 1988. Bush Theatre, May 2018.[12]
  • Picture Palace, Women's Theatre Group, London, 1988.
  • A Rock In Water, Royal Court Young People's Theatre at the Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1989. Published in Black Plays: 2, ed. Yvonne Brewster, London: Methuen Drama, 1989.
  • A Hero's Welcome, Women's Playhouse Trust at the Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1989.
  • Talking In Tongues, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London, 1991. Published in The Methuen Drama Book of Plays by Black British Writers, Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2011, ISBN 978-1408131244
  • Mules, Clean Break, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1996
  • Can You Keep a Secret?, Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre, London, 1999
  • Water, Tricycle Theatre, London, 2000.
  • One Under, Tricycle Theatre, London, 2005.
  • IDP, Tricycle Theatre, London, 2006[13]
  • Taken, Soho Theatre, London, 2010.
  • Her Father's Daughter, BBC Radio 4.
  • The Dinner Party, BBC Radio 4.
  • Lazarus, BBC Radio 3, 2013.
  • The Principles of Cartography, Bush Theatre, 2017.
  • Rockets and Blue Light, 2018

Further reading

References
  1. Goddard, Lynette (2004). "West IndiesvsEngland in Winsome Pinnock's Migration Narratives". Contemporary Theatre Review. 14 (4): 23–33. doi:10.1080/10486800412331296291.
  2. Helen Kolawole, "Look who's taking the stage", The Guardian, 26 July 2003.
  3. Dowd, Vincent (2020-03-18). "The playwright spotlighting Britain's black history". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  4. Roy Bartholomew, "A bare shoulder to cry on", The Independent, 23 April 1996.
  5. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Kingston University London.
  6. Nicola, Abram (2015). "Looking Back: Winsome Pinnock's Politics of Representation". In Brewer, Mary F.; Goddard, Lynette; Osborne, Deirdre (eds.). Modern and Contemporary Black British Drama. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 95–111. ISBN 9781137506290.
  7. Elaine Aston (2003). Feminist Views on the English Stage: Women Playwrights, 1990-2000. Cambridge University Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-521-80003-7.
  8. D. Keith Peacock, "Chapter 9: So People Know We're Here: Black Theatre in Britain" in Thatcher's Theatre: British Theatre and Drama in the Eighties, Greenwood Press, 1999, p. 179.
  9. "Winsome Pinnock", Drama Online.
  10. "2018 Award", Alfred Fagon Award.
  11. Georgia Snow, "Winsome Pinnock wins 2018 Alfred Fagon Award", The Stage, 9 November 2018.
  12. Leave Taking at Bush Theatre (24 May–30 June 2018).
  13. Winsome Pinnock page at Doolee.com.

Sources
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