The Company
Formed in 1935 by a group of Caribbean and West African students and workers based in London, the Negro Theatre Arts Group drew on connections with the League of Coloured Peoples and the broader milieu of Black political and cultural life in interwar London. The founding members included Jamaican, Barbadian, and Nigerian participants, reflecting the cosmopolitan character of Black London in this period.
The group’s stated ambition was to present serious dramatic work by and about Black people, explicitly rejecting the minstrel and variety formats that had been the main routes to stage visibility for Black performers.
The Programme
The Lyric Hammersmith evening in November 1936 consisted of three one-act plays. Two were original works by group members; the third was an adaptation of a short story by Claude McKay. Reviews were mixed: the Daily Worker was enthusiastic, the Times brief and condescending. The audience was, by all accounts, mixed in composition and warmly receptive.
Significance
This engagement is one of the earliest documented instances of a self-organised Black British theatre company presenting original work at a mainstream London venue. Primary sources include the LCP archive at the London School of Economics and several surviving programmes.