Winsome Pinnock

Winsome Pinnock (born 1961) is an award-winning British playwright of Jamaican heritage, who is "probably Britain's most well known black female playwright".^[1]

Life

Winsome Pinnock was born in Islington, North London, to parents who were both migrants from Smithville, Jamaica. Her mother was a cleaner and her father a checker at Smithfield Meat Market. Pinnock attended Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Comprehensive Girls' School (formerly Starcross School) in Islington and graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London (1979–82), with a BA (Joint Honours) in English and Drama and from Birkbeck, University of London (1983), with an MA in Modern Literature in English.^[2]

Pinnock's award-winning plays include The Wind of Change (Half Moon Theatre, 1987), Leave Taking (Liverpool Playhouse Studio and National Theatre, 1988), Picture Palace (commissioned by the Women's Theatre Group, 1988),^[3] A Hero's Welcome (Women's Playhouse Trust at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1989), A Rock in Water (Royal Court Young People's Theatre at the Theatre Upstairs, 1989; inspired by the life of Claudia Jones),^[4] Talking in Tongues (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 1991), Mules (Clean Break Theatre Company, 1996) and One Under (Tricycle Theatre, 2005).^[5]

Pinnock has been Visiting Lecturer at Royal Holloway College, and Senior Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University. She lectures at Kingston University, London.^[2] Whilst at university, she continues her inspirational teachings and informed opinions through the use of intelligent and inimitable methods. Students have described her as: "A fantastic writer who is a pleasure to work with."

Awards

• 1991 George Devine Award
• Unity Theatre Trust Award
• Pearson Plays on Stage Award For Best Play of the Year

Selected works

• The Winds Of Change, Half Moon Theatre, London, 1987.
• Leave Taking, Playhouse, Liverpool, and National Theatre, 1988.
• Picture Palace, Women's Theatre Group, London, 1988.
• A Rock In Water, Royal Court Young People's Theatre at the Theatre Upstairs, London, 1989. Published in Black Plays: 2, ed. Yvonne Brewster, London: Methuen Drama, 1989.
• A Hero's Welcome, Women's Playhouse Trust at the Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1989.
• Talking In Tongues, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London, 1991. Published in The Methuen Drama Book of Plays by Black British Writers, Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2011, ISBN 978-1408131244
• Mules, Clean Break Theatre Company, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1996
• Untitled, Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre, London, 1999
• Water, Tricycle Theatre, London, 2000.
• One Under, Tricycle Theatre, London, 2005.
• IDP, Tricycle Theatre, London, 2006^[6]
• Taken, Soho Theatre, London, 2010.
• Her Father's Daughter, BBC Radio 4.
• The Dinner Party, BBC Radio 4.
• Lazarus, BBC Radio 3, 2013.

Further reading

• Michael Earley, Philippa Keil, eds. (1995). "Talking in Tongues". The Contemporary Monologue: Women. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-87830-060-0.  CS1 maint: Uses editors parameter (link)

References

Sources

• Griffin, Gabrielle (2006), "The Remains of the British Empire: The Plays of Winsome Pinnock", in Luckhurst, Mary, A Companion to Modern British and Irish Drama, ISBN 978-1-4051-2228-3 
• "Bibliography: Winsome Pinnock", Contemporary Theatre and Drama in English
• IDP - A play by Winsome Pinnock

External links

• Winsome Pinnock at IMDb.
• "Writer Winsome Pinnock on why she enjoyed writing Lazarus for radio", BBC Radio 3.
• "Something to be Reclaimed" (first published 1999). Jim Mulligan interviews Winsome Pinnock on Can You Keep a Secret? The collected interviews of Jim Mulligan.
• Winsome Pinnock on how Feminism influenced her writing. 1976–2014, Black Plays at the National Theatre.