It looks to have been a great year for black British theatre and its makers. And things have been going well for a good while. It should be remarked on far more often what a significant contribution black artists make to the West End’s creative dynamism and bumper revenues; whether it’s Hamilton, Dreamgirls, Motown, Tina, or Thriller Live, there are nightly instances of roof-raising, audience-delighting musical talent.
But there have been particular noteworthy strides this year.
The fact that Kwame Kwei-Armah has taken over at the Young Vic heralds an even greater entrenchment of the diversity principle that was a hallmark of David Lan’s 18-year tenure. Outside London, the casting of Golda Rosheuvel as Othello in Liverpool, Jude Owusu as Tamburlaine at the RSC, and Don Warrington as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman in Manchester, signalled that the repertoire is being opened up in colour-blind and colour-conscious ways on a sustained basis. There has been a bumper crop of strong new plays, too, among them Testament’s Black Men Walking (Manchester and touring), Murfaro Makubika’s Shebeen (Nottingham and Theatre Royal Stratford East), and Debbie Tucker Green’s Ear for Eye (Royal Court). Most saliently in respect of playwriting, there has been a push into the West End.
