Black British Theatre: A Transnational Perspective Volume 1 of 2 Submitted by Michael Christopher Pearce, to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Drama, January 2013. This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. (Signature) ........................................................................................ 1 Abstract This thesis examines post-war black British theatre through a transnational lens. It argues that the hitherto prioritization of a national paradigm in discussions of black British theatre is not sufficiently complex to chart the historical processes that have shaped it and the multiple spatial, cultural, and political contexts in which it has been generated. This thesis finds that a transnational optic exposes a network of connections – physical, ideological and psychic – between blacks in Britain and other global black communities which have shaped and transformed the lives of Britain‟s black communities and their cultural production. The thesis is divided into three chapters: the USA (chapter 1), the Caribbean (chapter 2), and Africa (chapter 3). Each chapter represents a specific geo- cultural-political space with which black British theatre has an important relationship. Each chapter follows the same broad structure: the first half of the chapter establishes a particular transnational process and mode of analysis which frames the ensuing historical discussion; the second half is devoted to an analysis of two contemporary black British dramatists. The USA chapter examines black British theatre through the lens of Americanization and Black Power. The first half traces the influence of black America on black British theatre‟s formation, organization and expression in the post-war period. The second half examines works by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Mojisola Adebayo. The Caribbean chapter applies the process and theory of creolization to a discussion of the rise and consolidation of Caribbean culture in black British theatre. The chosen case studies for this chapter are Roy Williams and Bola Agbaje. Finally, the African chapter discusses the recent flux of immigrants from Africa since the 1990s and, using the concept of diaspora as an analytic model, explores the impact this has had on black British theatre. The second half focuses on works by Inua Ellams and debbie tucker green. 2 Dividing the thesis into the spaces of the USA, the Caribbean and Africa allows one to filter and track the origination and circulations of particular sets of ideas, practices and / or people. The divisions reiterate that I am looking at complex heterogeneous material informed by multiple strands of influence. Nevertheless, connections between the chapters emerge, which illustrate historically embedded circuits of influence and exchange that have routinely transgressed national borders. Taken as a whole, the thesis supports the idea that black British theatre not only merits a transnational approach, but is, in fact, a transnational practice in itself. 3 Table of Contents Volume 1 Introduction 5 Historical and Scholarly Context 6 Transnational Black British Theatre: Conceptual Framework 37 Chapter 1: The USA 56 Historical Context and Theoretical Frame 57 Kwame Kwei-Armah 102 Mojisola Adebayo 121 Chapter 2: The Caribbean 145 Historical Context and Theoretical Frame 146 Roy Williams 185 Bola Agbaje 208 Volume 2 Chapter 3: Africa 228 Historical Context and Theoretical Frame 229 Inua Ellams 270 debbie tucker green 286 Conclusion 304 References Works Cited 320 Primary Sources: Plays 351 4 Introduction An intricate web of cultural and political connections binds blacks here to blacks elsewhere. At the same time, they are linked into the social relations of this country (Gilroy, 1987: 156). 5 Historical and Scholarly Context Since the end of the Second World War, British society has expanded and diversified. In part, this is due to a significant growth in immigrants of Caribbean and African origin, who bring with them new social and cultural practices which continue to complicate the terms „black‟ and „British‟. While some theatre practitioners such as Felix Cross define themselves as black British, finding it „a perfectly reasonable convenient expression‟ (qtd in Davis, 2006a: 22), others, like Peter Badejo, reject the term: I hate using the word „Black‟ in this country. To me, the word „Black‟ has meant a lot of deprivation, and it should not be that way […] So I am reverting, recoiling into my Africanness. First and foremost, I am an African from Nigeria, I live in Britain and I am British (qtd in Zhana, 2006: n.p.). On the other hand, Kwame Kwei-Armah argues that the term „black British‟ allows the African or Caribbean person „to perceive themselves as having arrived somewhere, as having a home‟ (qtd in Davis, 2006a: 23). The tensions raised here between black and British, home and hostland, continue to lie at the very heart of debates around black British culture and attendant issues of racism, nationality and belonging. They also raise questions regarding theatrical traditions. How are these tensions reflected in black theatre‟s form and content? To what extent do the cultures of African and African-origin people impact upon black theatre practitioners in Britain? How far does their work perpetuate practices from Africa or the Caribbean? What analytical approaches would best register these complexities? This thesis attempts to demonstrate that a transnational optic that incorporates an understanding of the social, cultural and political networks that connect black people across the world is best suited to analyzing black British theatre. It will argue that these diasporic affiliations are not just empathetic, they have resulted in a network of connections – physical, ideological and psychic – which have shaped and transformed the lives of Britain‟s black communities and their cultural production. However, in order to root the discussion in a material and 6 lived reality, the space of the nation will also form a central part of the investigation as a site that shapes our understanding of black theatre in Britain. Black People in Britain from 1948 Although the black presence in Britain has a long history, it was the post-war period of the 1950s that saw a substantial increase in the number of black immigrants to Britain. This large-scale immigration was due to a combination of political and economic factors, notably the availability of work in Britain and the disintegration of its Empire, which had recognized its former colonial subjects as British citizens. At this time, the majority of black immigrants came from the Caribbean, in particular Jamaica. Indeed, the docking of the Empire Windrush on the 22 June 1948 at Tilbury, Essex with its 492 Caribbean (mainly Jamaican) passengers, following the promise of work as Britain began to re-build itself after the war, has become the symbolic starting point for historical narratives of black British settlement.1 Table showing the estimated black Caribbean population of Britain, 1951-20012 Year Caribbean British-born of Best estimate Birthplace Caribbean-born black (est.) Caribbean population 1951 17,218 10,000 28,000 1961 173,659 35,000 209,000 1971 304,070 163,210 467,000 1981 295,179 250,565 546,000 1 For histories of the black presence in Britain, pre- and post-„Windrush‟, see Kenneth Little (1948), Sheila Patterson (1965), Edward Scobie (1972), James Walvin (1973), Folarin Shyllon (1974, 1977), Peter Fryer (1984), David Killingray (1994), Gretchen Gerzina (1995), Norma Myers (1996), Ron Ramdin (1999), Mike and Trevor Phillips (1998), and Tony Sewell (1998). 2 Statistical data from 1951 to 1991 is taken from Peach (1998: 211). Figures for 2001 are taken from Bosveld and Connolly (2006: 33). It was only in 1991 that a question on ethnic origin was introduced into the Census. Previous estimates gauged the size of the black Caribbean population by equating a Caribbean birthplace with an African Caribbean ethnicity. This, as Peach states, „is only partly true‟ as the Caribbean-born population includes a number of other ethnicities including whites and South Asians (1996b: 26-7). The total figures for 1991 and 2001 are the official Census estimates of the black Caribbean population. The 1991 row figures do not add up to give the best estimate because some of the black Caribbean population was born in places other than the Caribbean or the UK (Peach, 1998: 211). Furthermore, of the 58,106 people who claimed a „Black Other‟ identity in 1991 it is „likely‟ they were predominantly of Caribbean origin which would raise the total estimated population size from 499,964 to 558,070 and the UK-born population to 326,424 (Peach, 1998: 211). 7 1991 264,591 268,318 to 499,964 to 326,424 558,070 2001 238,126 327,495 565,621 Mass migration from the Caribbean to Britain as part of the post-war reconstruction reached its peak in the 1960s „and was effectively over by 1973‟ (Peach, 1996a: 28). The decrease in immigrant arrivals from the Caribbean was the result of legislation aimed at restricting Commonwealth migration to the UK; The 1962 and 1968 Commonwealth Immigration Acts and the 1971 Immigration Act (as well as the 1981 Nationality Act) successively redefined the rights to claim British citizenship. By 1971, through the introduction of „patriality‟ into the law, only people with a parent or grandparent born in the UK had an automatic right to citizenship (Carter, 2000: 133-4). By 2001 the majority of the black Caribbean population was born in Britain (58 per cent), followed by Jamaica (23 per cent), Barbados (3 per cent), Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Grenada (each c.