Leave Taking
Description
In North London, Del and Viv are soul-sick. Del doesn't want to be at home; staying out late - 3 p.m.-the-next-day late - is more her thing. Viv scours her schoolbooks trying to find a trace of herself between their lines.
When Enid takes her daughters to the local obeah woman for some traditional Caribbean soul-healing, secrets are spilled. There's no turning back for Del, Viv and Enid as they negotiate the frictions between their countries and cultures.
Two generations. Three incredible women. Winsome Pinnock's play Leave Taking is an epic story of what we leave behind in order to find home. It premiered in 1987, and was revived at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2018, in a production directed by the Bush's Artistic Director, Madani Younis.
'The godmother of Black British playwrights' - Guardian on Winsome Pinnock
'Enid is one of those West Indians who came to England in the fifties, determined to become 'little Miss English'. Abandoned by her husband she has struggled to bring up her two daughters to live her dream... a beautifully observed, deeply moving account of this alienated limbo' - Guardian
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Winsome Pinnock is an award-winning British playwright of Jamaican heritage. Her plays include: The Authenticator (National Theatre, London, 2026); Rockets and Blue Lights (Royal Exchange, Manchester, 2020; National Theatre, 2021); One Under (2005) and Water (2000) at the Tricycle Theatre; Mules (Clean Break/Royal Court Theatre Upstairs/Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles and The Magic Theatre, San Francisco, 1996); Talking in Tongues (1991) and A Hero's Welcome (1989; runner-up Susan Smith Blackburn Prize) at the Royal Court Theatre; and Leave Taking (Liverpool Playhouse Theatre/Contact Theatre Manchester/Belgrade Theatre Coventry/Lyric Hammersmith/ National Theatre, 1986).
She has adapted Malorie Blackman's novel Pig Heart Boy for the stage (Unicorn Theatre / Sheffield Theatres / Children's Theatre Partnership, 2025).
The prizes awarded to her work include the Alfred Fagon Award (2018), the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama (2022), the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Special Commendation (1990), the George Devine Award (1991), the Pearson Award for Best New Play (1991), and the Unity Theatre Trust Award (1989).
Author photo by Matt Roberts
Content
- Cover
- Title Page
- Contents
- Original Production
- Introduction
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Characters
- Leave Taking
- Scene One
- Scene Two
- Scene Three
- Scene Four
- Scene Five
- Scene Six
- Scene Seven
- Scene Eight
- About the Author
- Copyright and Performing Rights Information
