Hidden Gems Volume II: Contemporary Black British Plays

Includes the plays A Bitter Herb, Absolution, Identity, The Far Side, Mary Seacole, and Urban Afro-Saxons This second and sister volume to Hidden Gems showcases a further range of plays by Black British writers whose work reaches beyond themes too-often perceived by mainstream theatre commissioning as defining Black people's experiences. The plays, monodrama and libretto represent subject-matter from woman-centred history, revolutionary politics, trans-racial adoption and African-diasporic familial heritage, as contoured by the writers' boundary crossing profiles as poets, playwrights, performers and directors. The accompanying critical introductions are provided by people committed to recognising the aesthetic and political significance of the work, and its necessary inclusion in British theatre and literary history.

Australian born Deirdre Osborne is a Senior Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London. She has interviewed and published extensively on the work of Black British writers (such as Kwame Kwei-Armah, Roy Williams, Lemn Sissay, SuAndi, debbie tucker green, Andrea Levy, Valerie Mason-John and Mojisola Adebayo) and always insists upon inclusion of the field in any curricula to which she contributes. A second anthology of edited plays by Black playwrights, Hidden Gems will be published by Oberon.

"INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME II Deirdre Osborne (Goldsmiths, University of London) A BITTER HERB Shady Adoptions: the One-way Traffic of Children in Care Fiona Peters (Goldsmiths, University of London) A Bitter Herb by Kwame Kwei-Armah THE FAR SIDE Laying Ghosts to Rest Winsome Pinnock (Kingston University) The Far Side by Courttia Newland IDENTITY Revealing the Revolution: a Few Home Truths Chris Searle (University of Manchester) Identity by Paul Anthony Morris URBAN AFRO SAXONS Putting it Together: An interview with Kofi Agyemang and Patricia Elcock ed. Deirdre Osborne (Goldsmiths, University of London) Urban Afro Saxons by Kofi Agyemang and Patricia Elcock THE LIBRETTO OF MARY SEACOLE SuAndi's Mary Seacole: A Hybrid Cartography in Libretto Mina Karavanta (National & Kapodistrian University of Athens) The Libretto of Mary Seacole by SuAndi ABSOLUTION 'The Waltz Gone Mad: the Poetics of Departure and Arrival in Absolution Imanie Wilson Absolution by Malika Booker APPENDIX I Will Not Put Another Dead Young Black Man on Stage Patricia Cumper References and Bibliography of Indicative Critical Studies