A Black History of English Theatre in the 1950s

This chapter offers an account of theatre in England in the 1950s that privileges the work and stories of black theatre workers (performers, writers, directors and agents) and black-led and black-authored work. It traces the plays and musicals they created and/or appeared in and the networks they formed and drew upon to support themselves financially and to develop their artistic practice. It does this to address the ‘critical amnesia’ that Brewer, Goddard and Osborne identify as a recurring feature of British theatre history that suppresses and marginalises black theatrical achievement in Britain.