Introduction

Sharing with previous criticism an uneasiness with the use of the umbrella term ‘black’ for communities as diverse as the African, the African-Caribbean, and the black British, this introduction argues for the need to examine the increasingly visible African presence on the contemporary London stage independently from other BME theatrical productions. Chapters and interviews in this collection are contextualised on the background of previous criticism (with particular reference to black British theatre studies) and the history of African artists and companies on the London stage.