T-Bone Wilson is a Guyanese-British actor, dramatist and poet.[1]

T-Bone Wilson
Born
NationalityBritish
Alma materMountview Theatre School
Occupation(s)Actor, dramatist, poet

Life edit

Wilson came to England from Guyana in 1962 as an engineering student. Deciding to take up drama, he trained at the Mountview Theatre School.[2] Wilson acted in Mustapha Matura's series of short plays, Black Pieces,[1] staged by Roland Rees at the ICA in 1970.[3] Wilson was inspired to become a playwright himself,[4] writing Jumbie Street March, Body and Soul (1974) and Come Jubilee (1977).[5] Jumbie Street March was produced by the Dark and Light Theatre Company.[6]

As a theatre actor, Wilson performed in the National Theatre's 1981 production of Measure for Measure, the first main-stage Shakespeare by a national theatre company to employ a majority of ethnic minority actors.[7] He played Banquo in a 1984 production of Macbeth at the Young Vic Theatre.[8]

Wilson appeared in the 1979 television drama A Hole in Babylon, based on events leading up to the 1975 Spaghetti House siege.[9] He also appeared in Franco Rosso's 1980 film Babylon, which portrayed sound system culture and racism in Brixton.[10]

Writing edit

Poetry edit

Plays edit

Acting edit

Films edit

Television edit

  • The Melting Pot (TV series)|The Melting Pot, 1976
  • A Hole in Babylon, 1979

References edit

  1. ^ a b Procter, James (2002). "Wilson, T-Bone". In Alison Donnell (ed.). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. pp. 71–2. ISBN 978-1-134-70025-7.
  2. ^ "T-Bone Wilson". British Black and Asian Shakespeare Database. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  3. ^ Billington, Michael (1 November 2019). "Mustapha Matura obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  4. ^ Megson, Chris (2012). Modern British Playwriting: The 1970s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-4081-2939-5.
  5. ^ "Playwrights: Wilson, T Bone". Black Plays Archive. National Theatre. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  6. ^ Davis, Geoffrey V. (2006). Staging New Britain: Aspects of Black and South Asian British Theatre Practice. Peter Lang. p. 50. ISBN 978-90-5201-042-7.
  7. ^ "Measure for Measure (1981)". British Black and Asian Shakespeare Database. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Macbeth (1984)". British Black and Asian Shakespeare Database. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  9. ^ Bourne, Stephen (2005). Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television. A&C Black. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-8264-7898-6.
  10. ^ Newland, Paul (2010). "We Know Where We're Going, We Know Where We're From: Babylon". In Paul Newland (ed.). Don't Look Now: British Cinema in the 1970s. Intellect Books. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-84150-389-9.
  11. ^ "Poster by Oscar Zarete". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 6 February 2021.

External links edit