Leave Taking & other plays

Synopsis

An immersive collection of radio plays from the ‘Godmother of black British playwrights’ Multiple award-winning playwright Winsome Pinnock was the first Black woman to have a play performed at the National Theatre in 1994 (Leave Taking), where she later became a writer in residence. This stunning collection, featuring performances from Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton), Lennie James (The Walking Dead, Line of Duty) and Ayesha Antoine (Holby City, Grange Hill), brings together the radio works of this legendary playwright for the first time.Leave Taking is a funny and moving play about the lives and relationships of a British Caribbean mother and her two daughters living in North London. With layers of conflict at its heart, it shows the tensions between generations, siblings, the past and the present, the individual and society and the personal and the political. The women negotiate the frictions between their countries and cultures in this stunning adaptation, beautifully observed for a listening audience. Starring Sarah Niles, Seraphina Beh and Nicholle Cherrie.In The Dinner Party, the King family are settling down to eat when a stranger arrives with a claim to the family name. Soon, slavery, reparations, shame and guilt are served up with the food and drink… Starring Don Gilet, John Shrapnel and June Whitfield.In A Song for Jake, Steve has songwriter's block and falls out with his teenage son, Jake, over music - with life-threatening consequences. Starring Paul Barber.In Her Father’s Daughter, Eva’s charming dad draws her into his conman’s double act, which slides from simple shoplifting to elaborate heists at the expense of friends, relatives and lovers. Starring Adjoa Andoh, Colin Salmon and Elizabeth Roberts.Water tells the story of SJ Johnson, a volatile, razor-sharp painter from the streets, poised to become the latest Brit-pack celebrity. Ed, a university-educated black journalist, comes to interview her and discovers she is not all she seems… Starring Lennie James and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.In The Story of Lazarus Winsome Pinnock sets the New Testament tale in a holistic healing centre, where terminally ill Larry is drawn to the work of an alternative healer. Starring Noma Dumezweni and Robert Blythe.In Clean Trade, a tight-knit group of cleaners are members of a Jamaican-style savings club. There's one problem - they have hardly any savings… Should they try their hand at the stock market? Starring Ayesha Antoine, Golda Rosheuvel and Ivana Basic.Tempy Smith grew up in Mississippi, the daughter of an enslaved woman. Fleeing Mississippi with her musical family, Tempy became a millionaire in Harlem in the 1920s. In Madame Tempy, Winsome Pinnock explores her extraordinary life through the story of Tempy’s granddaughter Sylvia, who sets off to learn about her grandmother's past. Starring Adjoa Andoh and Lisa Davina Phillip. The play is introduced by the real Sylvia.In Something Borrowed, a prospective bride questions her marriage of convenience after hearing about the tragedy of the Chinese cocklers in Morecambe Bay on the news. Starring Christine Brennan and Kevin Harvey.This packed collection also includes an extract from Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour with Winsome Pinnock talking in 2018 about the revival of her award-winning play Leave Taking.Praise for Leave Taking:‘Pinnock was a pioneer and her piece still hits home through its often shocking honesty about the hazards facing black people in Britain' The Guardian‘A devastatingly powerful story of a British-Caribbean family... [has] shocking contemporary relevance’ Time Out‘Timely in its politics, yet timeless in its themes’ The Stage‘A subtle marvel, offering all the poetry and rhythm of the Jamaican accent, where phrases sing with layers of meaning. It is a brilliantly wrought piece of drama’ WhatsOnStage©2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd