Winsome Pinnock: 'I'd go to the theatre with my sister - we'd be the only black people in the audience'

Bronwen Sharp

In our Play Talk series, playwrights discuss the joys and struggles of the writing life. This week, Winsome Pinnock talks about her first play Leave Taking, which gets a major revival at the Bush Theatre this week.

What was the first play to make you want to write plays?

The Sea by Edward Bond. I was around 12 years old, so I think I must have seen the original production at the Royal Court in 1973. At the time I thought it was a beautiful play, and very funny. I was taken by its politics too. I haven’t read or seen it since, but I am still haunted by some of its images: the scene that opens with a man drowning during a storm at sea, echoing The Tempest.

What was your background to becoming a playwright?

The Inner London Education Authority subsidised school visits to the theatre and that got me into the habit of watching and reading plays. I used to go with my younger sister and invariably we’d be the youngest and also the only black people in the audience, but we didn’t care. I was a member of various youth theatres. Like every other young person who grew up in Islington, I attended Anna Scher Children’s Theatre. I had a job after school working with Anna and her then husband Charles Verrall in their office. I’m still the same, I’ve always had more than one job on the go (as well as writing I am Associate Professor in Drama at Kingston University). It’s part of immigrant culture. My parents came to Britain to work and that was passed on to me. I was a member of the Old Vic Youth Theatre for a short while, and during my final year at Goldsmiths University, where I studied for a degree in Drama and English Literature, I joined the Royal Court Young People’s Theatre. While I was there I started writing Leave Taking.

What’s the hardest play you’ve ever written?

Probably Leave Taking, because it was the first play I wrote. At the time you couldn’t study Creative Writing at university so you had to find other ways to learn the craft. I lived for the weekly meetings of the Young Writers’ Group which took place in a shed behind the Royal Court. I started to think of myself as a writer because the tutors, Hanif Kureishi and Stephen Wakelam, took us seriously. I remember when I started writing in earnest it was an exciting time when I could barely sleep because I was living and breathing whichever play I was working on.

Which brought you the most joy?

The play I’m working on at the moment.

Leave Taking - in pictures

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Which playwrights have influenced you the most?

There are too many playwrights whose work I really love so I will just choose two writers: Claire McIntyre and Jacqueline Rudet.

What is your favourite line or scene from any play?

“Dismantle capitalism and overturn the patriarchy” - a call to arms from Ella Hickson’s The Writer .

What’s been the biggest surprise to you since you’ve had your writing performed by actors?

There is a distinct moment in rehearsals when the actors take ownership of the play. You live for that moment, I think because the play is then elevated to more than just your words.

What’s been your biggest setback as a writer?

The patriarchy.

And the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn?

Not to show work before it’s ready.

What do you think is the best thing about theatre? And the worst?

The best thing is its ephemerality, that no two performances are alike. The worst thing about theatre is its ephemerality: you can’t fully capture the feel of a live performance, not even by filming it (although I do recommend the NT Live broadcasts, which are excellent).

What’s your best piece of advice for writers who are starting out?

Try to find people/groups who will support you as a writer. You need to have someone cheering you on.

Are there any themes and stories you find yourself re-visiting with your plays?

I often write about mothers, daughters, sisters - sisterhood in its widest sense.

Are you on Twitter? Do you find it a help or a hindrance as a writer?

I started properly using Twitter a few months ago, and even sent out a few tweets, but my brother-in-law informed me that my account was set to privacy so none of those tweets were seen by anyone. It’s not a hindrance because I don’t use it too often.

Why did you write Leave Taking?

One of the reasons I wrote the play was because I never saw women like the main character Enid take the central role in a play. The play was written 30 years ago and it’s still quite rare to find a lead part written specifically for a black female performer.

Play Talk

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How do you spend opening night?

I watch the play. I sit right at the back so that I can observe the audience and their honest reactions. I have sat next to audience members who have said the funniest things. You learn a lot about what you’ve written.

What’s the best play you’ve seen this year?

Misty by Arinzé Kene.

What’s your favourite place to watch theatre in London?

What other art forms do you love when you’re not in a theatre?

I love contemporary art, contemporary dance, spoken word poetry, and films.

If the Prime Minister said they were abolishing the theatre tomorrow, what would you do?

I’d join the underground theatre movement. Theatre is at its best when it has something to fight for.

Leave Taking is at the Bush Theatre until June 30; bushtheatre.co.uk

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