Plays for Teenagers

Plays for Teenagers

On day 26 of Black Theatre History Month we're looking back at the plays for teenagers we've explored so far. Listed here in chronological order are plays from the 1980s through to the 2020s. Many from the Half Moon theatre, all by amazing writers, performed by amazing actors.

From Day 1 of Black Theatre History Month: The Wind of Change by Winsome Pinnock, 1987. A play for four actors exploring inter-racial friendships in the East End in the 1950s and also the experiences of young Black Britons in the 1980s.

From Day 6 of Black Theatre History Month: Advice to the Young at Heart by Roy Williams, 2011. Like Wind of Change, this play is set both in the present and in the 1950s. This time the focus is on the events around the riots in Notting Hill and the inner city riots of the 2011s and whether the youth of today can learn from the events of the past.

From Day 22 of Black Theatre History Month: Look to the Sky by Courtia Newland, 2011.

From Day 17 of Black Theatre History Month: Hot Orange, 2023 by Amal Khalidi and Tatenda Matsvai.

NT Connections Since 1995, the National Theatre has been commissioning leading writers to create new plays specfically for youth groups to perform. Schools and youth theatres can choose a play from the list, mount a production in the local area which is then judged as part of a regional and then national competition.

Black writers who have created plays for connections include Mojisola Adebayo, Rikki Beadle-Blair,Katori Hall, Cush Jumbo, Jackie Kay, Chinonyerem Odimba, Winsome Pinnock and Roy Williams. Check them out at the Black Plays Archive.