T-Bone Wilson

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

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

Life

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

Poetry

Plays

Acting

Films

Television

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

References

  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.