National Theatre announces That Black Theatre Podcast series

The National Theatre has announced a new podcast series, That Black Theatre Podcast.

The 12-week series is to be hosted by Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded PhD student Nadine Deller, who will be exploring the ins and outs of the Black Plays Archive to highlight elements of Black British theatre as well as political and social events of the 21st century that came to influence what was put on stage.

Practitioners such as Una Marson, Errol John, Mustapha Matura and Alfred Fagon will all be examined in the series for their seismic contributions to the performing arts community.

Lynette Goddard will debate the barriers faced by Black women playwrights, while Valerie Mason-John and Jackie Kay will put the under-representation of black queer and lesbian experiences on stage under the microscope.

There will an episode dedicated to playwright Winsome Pinnock, conversations about debbie tucker green and Roy Williams, as well as discussions with creatives such as Mojisola Adebayo and Ola Ince.

Deller said, "This podcast started as a way to share what I have learnt about black British theatre with as many people as I could. I never learned about black theatre in school, so this podcast is a celebration of black British theatre and the stories I have found in the archive. Through a mix of history, interviews, and casual discussion, I hope to show that black theatre is for everyone."

The series will commence on 28 September.

The National Theatre is set to reopen its doors next month with a socially distanced production of Death of England: Delroy, penned by Clint Dyer and Roy Williams.