JAMAICAN PLAYWRIGHT Pat Cumper has been named the artistic director of Britain's most esteemed black theatre company, Talawa. Cumper, who migrated to England in 1990, is known and acclaimed for her work on the Jamaican stage with plays such as Buss Out (performed by Sistren) and 1978's The Rapist.
According to thestage.co.uk site, Cumper will assume her new role in March this year. She will take over at a somewhat turbulent time in Talawa's history, as last year the company faced a dim future when the Arts Council England (ACE) withdrew £4 million in funding, pulling the rug from under the company's plans to build a theatre, revealed thestage.co.uk.
In October of last year, however, it was announced that the ACE would provide continued revenue funding of £420,000 until March 2007. Additionally, according to the Talawa website, the company remains committed to the building of the £7 million theatre.
MAKING STRIDES IN PRODUCTION
Interestingly, Talawa was founded by another Jamaican, Yvonne Brewster, who was also co-founder of the Barn Theatre on Oxford Road, New Kingston. Cumper first migrated to England in 1973 on winning the Jamaica Scholarship to Girton College, Cambridge, then returned home. In 1990, she returned to England. Since then, she has reviewed books and plays for the BBC World Service and was also a writer for the soap opera Westway.
In 2003, Talawa produced her play The Key Game, which earned her inclusion on the U.K. Guardian's list of 'Who's Who in British Theatre'. Talawa's current production, Ska Ba Day, was also written by Cumper, directed by Ben Thomas and with music by Delroy Murray.
Cumper's first novel, One Bright Child, based on her mother's life, was published in 2004 by Black Amber Books, which also published Brewster's autobiography, The Undertaker's Daughter.
T.B-S
TAKEN FROM THE GLEANER, FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2006
