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 | |
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Born | 1961 Islington, London, England |
Occupation | Playwright |
Language | English |
Nationality | British |
Education | Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School |
Alma mater | Goldsmiths, University of London |
Notable works | Leave 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
- Michael Earley; Philippa Keil, eds. (1995). "Talking in Tongues". The Contemporary Monologue: Women. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-87830-060-0.
References
- Goddard, Lynette (2004). "West IndiesvsEngland in Winsome Pinnock's Migration Narratives". Contemporary Theatre Review. 14 (4): 23–33. doi:10.1080/10486800412331296291.
- Helen Kolawole, "Look who's taking the stage", The Guardian, 26 July 2003.
- Dowd, Vincent (2020-03-18). "The playwright spotlighting Britain's black history". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
- Roy Bartholomew, "A bare shoulder to cry on", The Independent, 23 April 1996.
- Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Kingston University London.
- 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.
- Elaine Aston (2003). Feminist Views on the English Stage: Women Playwrights, 1990-2000. Cambridge University Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-521-80003-7.
- 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.
- "Winsome Pinnock", Drama Online.
- "2018 Award", Alfred Fagon Award.
- Georgia Snow, "Winsome Pinnock wins 2018 Alfred Fagon Award", The Stage, 9 November 2018.
- Leave Taking at Bush Theatre (24 May–30 June 2018).
- Winsome Pinnock page at Doolee.com.
Sources
- Griffin, Gabriele (2006), "The Remains of the British Empire: The Plays of Winsome Pinnock", in Luckhurst, Mary (ed.), A Companion to Modern British and Irish Drama, ISBN 978-1-4051-2228-3
- "Bibliography: Winsome Pinnock", Contemporary Theatre and Drama in English
- IDP - A play by Winsome Pinnock
- Winsome Pinnock at Black Plays Archive, National Theatre.
External links
- Winsome Pinnock on IMDb
- "Writer Winsome Pinnock on why she enjoyed writing Lazarus for radio", BBC Radio 3.
- "Something to be Reclaimed" (first published 1999). Jim Mulligan interviews Winsome Pinnock on Can You Keep a Secret? The collected interviews of Jim Mulligan.
- Winsome Pinnock on how Feminism influenced her writing. 1976–2014, Black Plays at the National Theatre.
- "5 Reasons You Should Know About Winsome Pinnock", Bush Theatre, 4 April 2018.
- "Meet the Writer | Winsome Pinnock | Leave Taking", YouTube, 11 April 2018.
- "Q&A with Winsome Pinnock", Alfred Fagon Award.