Bola Agbaje – författare

The Methuen Drama Book of Plays by Black British Writers provides an essential anthology of six of the key plays that have shaped the trajectory of British black theatre from the late-1970s to the present day. In doing so it charts the journey from specialist black theatre companies to the mainstream, including West End success, while providing a cultural and racial barometer for Britain during the last forty years.

It opens with Mustapha Matura''s 1979 play Welcome Home Jacko which in its depiction of a group of young unemployed West Indians was one of the first to explore issues of youth culture, identity and racial and cultural identification. Jackie Kay''s Chiaroscuro examines debates about the politics of black, mixed race and lesbian identities in 1980s Britain, and from the 1990s Winsome Pinnock''s Talking in Tongues engages with the politics of feminism to explore issues of black women''s identity in Britian and Jamaica. From the first decade of the twenty-first century the three plays include Roy Williams'' seminal pub-drama Sing Yer Hearts Out for the Lads, exploring racism and identity against the backdrop of the World Cup; Kwame Kwei-Armah''s National Theatre play of 2004, Fix Up, about black cultural history and progress in modern Britain, and finally Bola Agbage''s terrific 2007 debut, Gone Too Far!, which examines questions of identity and tensions between Africans and Caribbeans living in Britain.

Edited by Lynnette Goddard, this important anthology provides an essential introduction to the last forty years of British black theatre.

''My future is here. My aim is clear and simple. I want out. I wanna be rich.I''m not gonna pretend it''s anything more than that and I want it now.''

David, Kojo and Sharon grew up on a London estate. Now in their mid 20s, they''re eyeing another kind of life. But how do you choose the right path when temptation lies around every corner? If your emotional or financial debt is sky high, how do you buy your way out? Bola Agbaje''s smart, savvy second play for the Royal Court asks whether being out of the system might be just as good as being in it. Her characters struggle to ignore the pull of lawless gain and in their newly-respectable, adult lives, find it hard to move away from a background which both haunts them and entices them back. Agbaje''s characteristically energetic, vibrant dialogue captures the dynamic rhythm of spoken language and she portrays an under-represented slice of society with skill and compassion.

''My future is here. My aim is clear and simple. I want out. I wanna be rich.I''m not gonna pretend it''s anything more than that and I want it now.''

David, Kojo and Sharon grew up on a London estate. Now in their mid 20s, they''re eyeing another kind of life. But how do you choose the right path when temptation lies around every corner? If your emotional or financial debt is sky high, how do you buy your way out? Bola Agbaje''s smart, savvy second play for the Royal Court asks whether being out of the system might be just as good as being in it. Her characters struggle to ignore the pull of lawless gain and in their newly-respectable, adult lives, find it hard to move away from a background which both haunts them and entices them back. Agbaje''s characteristically energetic, vibrant dialogue captures the dynamic rhythm of spoken language and she portrays an under-represented slice of society with skill and compassion.

The Methuen Drama Book of Plays by Black British Writers provides an essential anthology of six of the key plays that have shaped the trajectory of British black theatre from the late-1970s to the present day. In doing so it charts the journey from specialist black theatre companies to the mainstream, including West End success, while providing a cultural and racial barometer for Britain during the last forty years.

It opens with Mustapha Matura''s 1979 play Welcome Home Jacko which in its depiction of a group of young unemployed West Indians was one of the first to explore issues of youth culture, identity and racial and cultural identification. Jackie Kay''s Chiaroscuro examines debates about the politics of black, mixed race and lesbian identities in 1980s Britain, and from the 1990s Winsome Pinnock''s Talking in Tongues engages with the politics of feminism to explore issues of black women''s identity in Britian and Jamaica. From the first decade of the twenty-first century the three plays include Roy Williams'' seminal pub-drama Sing Yer Hearts Out for the Lads, exploring racism and identity against the backdrop of the World Cup; Kwame Kwei-Armah''s National Theatre play of 2004, Fix Up, about black cultural history and progress in modern Britain, and finally Bola Agbage''s terrific 2007 debut, Gone Too Far!, which examines questions of identity and tensions between Africans and Caribbeans living in Britain.

Edited by Lynnette Goddard, this important anthology provides an essential introduction to the last forty years of British black theatre.