Hidden Gems: Contemporary Black British Plays

Book excerpt: B is for Black by Courttia Newland Moj of the Antarcticby Mojisola Adebayo The Sons of Charlie Paora by Lennie James Brown Girl in the Ringby Valerie Mason-John Something Dark by Lemn Sissay 35 Centsby Paul Anthony Morris This distinctive new volume of drama by black British playwrights exemplifies how experiments with form, subject-matter and genre can serve to centralise the experiences of black people in local, national and international contexts of culture, politics and performance. Each play is critically introduced, to create an anthology of interactions - between the people who have long championed the work through teaching and writing about it and the people who produce, perform and explain their intentions behind it. Something Dark by Lemn Sissay is now a set text on Edexcel’s syllabus for A level English Literature and English Language and Literature.