Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock, considered the godmother of Black-British playwrights by The Guardian, is a funny and moving play about a British Caribbean mother and her two daughters exploring relationships, identity and the role of the past in the present. First produced in 1987 at Liverpool Playhouse, the play won Pinnock the George Devine Award in 1991. It was also the first play by a Black-British woman to be staged at the National Theatre in 1994.

Ruined by Lynn Nottage is a powerful play about the experiences endured by women in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. Written in 2007, it debuted at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in the same year. With her fascinating plays, Ruined and Sweat, Nottage remains the first and only woman to receive the Pulitzer Award for Drama twice – in 2009 and 2017 respectively.

random by Black-British playwright and film maker debbie tucker green, best known for her thought-provoking, lyrically written plays, is an urgent play about the brutal killing of a Black schoolboy. It was first staged in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court in London in 2008. A Channel 4 TV adaptation went on to win a BAFTA for Best Single Drama.

Eclipsed by Zimbabwean-American actor and playwright Danai Gurira is a play inspired by a photo of Black Diamond, a female Liberian freedom fighter, published in a 2003 New York Times’ article. It explores the stories of five women prisoners of war and the sexual assaults unleashed on women during Liberia’s second civil war. It was the first play with an all-Black, female creative team and cast to hit Broadway in 2016. In 2019, Eclipsed was nominated for the Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Ensemble.

Niqabi Ninja by Egyptian playwright and producer Sara Shaarawi, written in 2013, follows one woman’s transformation into a vigilante in Cairo as she attempts to right the wrongs of male violence around her. It was produced in 2021 as part of Edinburgh International Festival. She is best known for her work with the Arab Arts Focus and was ranked 43rd in The List magazine’s Hot 100.

No Easter Sunday for Queers by South African playwright and poet Koleka Putuma is about two people who dare to love and the challenges they face in a homophobic society. It debuted at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg in 2019 and was then staged at the Roundhouse in London as part of Global Black Voices, excerpts of plays by Black writers from around the world in August 2019. It also won the Distell Playwriting Award for Putuma in 2019.

Notes from the Field, written by playwright and The West Wing actor Anna Deavere Smith in 2015, is based on interviews with more than 250 students, parents, teachers and staff caught up in America’s poverty to prison pipeline. It was first presented by Berkeley Repertory Theatre before touring internationally and being adapted to TV. In 2012, President Barack Obama honoured Smith with the National Humanities Medal for her ‘portrayal of authentic American voices’.

Nine Night by Natasha Gordon digs into the traditional Caribbean grieving process after death of a loved one. It was staged at the National Theatre in London in 2018 before transferring to the Trafalgar Theatre, making it the first play by a Black-British woman playwright to be produced in the West End. The play’s massive success led to Gordon winning the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright in 2018. Nine Night was successfully staged in the Courtyard theatre here at the Playhouse 2022.

Princess and the Hustler by Chinonyerem Odimba is about a family caught up in the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott, which marked a key moment in the British civil rights movement. Written by Nigerian-British playwright, screen writer and poet Chinonyere Odimba, it was first seen at Bristol Old Vic in 2019 followed by a UK tour. The play was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Best New Play Award in 2018 and is now a set text on the GCSE English Literature syllabus.