The Season
The Tricycle Theatre’s Windrush Stories season was programmed to mark the fortieth anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury in 1948. Artistic director Nicolas Kent commissioned five short plays from Black British writers, each exploring a different aspect of the Windrush generation’s experience: arrival, work, family, racism, and belonging.
The five writers — ranging from established voices to writers receiving their first professional commission — were given considerable freedom. The resulting plays differed markedly in form and tone, from naturalistic family drama to something closer to documentary theatre to a formally experimental piece that foregrounded the act of storytelling itself.
The Tricycle
The Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn — established in 1980 — had by the late 1980s developed a strong reputation for political theatre and for programming work that reflected the diversity of its North London community. Its location in Kilburn, with its large Irish and Caribbean communities, shaped its artistic outlook throughout the Kent years.
Legacy
The Windrush Stories season is now recognised as an important moment in the history of Black British new writing. Several of the commissioned plays have been revived; at least two of the writers went on to significant careers in theatre and television. The programme and rehearsal notes are held in the Tricycle archive.