Leave Taking

{{short description|1987 play by Winsome Pinnock}} {{About|the play by Winsome Pinnock|the EP by Rocket Juice & the Moon|Leave-Taking}} {{Use British English|date=November 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox play | name = Leave Taking | image = | caption = | writer = Winsome Pinnock | characters = {{hlist|Enid Matthews|Del Matthews|Viv Matthews|Mai|Broderick}} | setting = London | premiere = {{Start date|1987|11|11|df=yes}}<ref name=BPA /> | place = Liverpool Playhouse | orig_lang = English | subject = | genre = | web = }} '''''Leave Taking''''' is a play by Winsome Pinnock which was first produced by the Liverpool Playhouse in 1987.<ref name=BPA>{{cite web |title=Leave Taking |url=https://www.blackplaysarchive.org.uk/productions/leave-taking/ |website=Black Plays Archive |access-date=28 February 2026}}</ref> Pinnock's first full-length play,<ref name=PK>{{cite news |title=Leave Taking (Liverpool Playhouse Studio) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-post-3-am-ed-wonderful-debut/192358449/ |access-date=28 February 2026 |work=Liverpool Daily Post |date=13 November 1987 |page=13 |via=Newspapers.com|author=Philip Key}}</ref> it won the 1991 George Devine Award and, in 1994, was produced by the National Theatre.<ref name=BPA /> It was the first play by a Black British woman to be produced by the National Theatre.<ref name=BT>{{cite web |title=Leave Taking |url=https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/past-event/leave-taking/ |website=Bush Theatre |access-date=28 February 2026 |archive-date=9 March 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260309084423/https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/past-event/leave-taking/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

''Leave Taking'' is a set text for the English Literature GCSE examined by AQA and Eduqas.<ref>{{cite web |title=GCSE English Literature: Inspirational new texts and poetry |url=https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-8702-COMP-GUIDE-TEXTS-POETRY.PDF |website=AQA |access-date=28 February 2026 |date=June 2024 |archive-date=6 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250406015840/https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/english/AQA-8702-COMP-GUIDE-TEXTS-POETRY.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Leave Taking |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zyn3dnb |website=BBC Bitesize |access-date=28 February 2026 |archive-date=16 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516164650/https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zyn3dnb |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Sypnosis== ''Leave Taking'' focuses on a British-Jamaican mother, Enid, and her two teenage daughters, Del and Viv, who live in North London. Enid moved from Jamaica as part of the Windrush generation with the promise of a better life, but now works two jobs to support bringing up her daughters. She worries about them and seeks guidance from Mai, an Obeah woman to whom she goes for readings, and from Broderick, a family friend.

==Productions== {| class="wikitable", style="text-align:center" |+ Notable casts

|} ''Leave Taking'' premiered at the Liverpool Playhouse on 11 November 1987, directed by Kate Rowland and running until 5 December.<ref>{{cite news |title=Leave Taking (Liverpool Playhouse Studio) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-post-3-am-ed-leave-taking/192358004/ |access-date=28 February 2026 |work=Liverpool Daily Post |date=6 November 1987 |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Philip Key, writing for the ''Liverpool Daily Post'', said that the play was "a finely-hewn piece of writing" and "possess[ed] a universal appeal".<ref name=PK /> Key named it as among the contenders for the ''Daily Post''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Best New Play of 1987 alongside ''Self Portrait'' by Sheila Yeger, but they were beaten by ''Barnaby and the Old Boys'' by Keith Baxter.<ref>{{cite news |title=And now for those laurels |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-post-the-paper-for-wales-and-now/192361441/ |access-date=28 February 2026 |work=Daily Post |date=2 January 1988 |page=12 |via=Newspapers.com|author=Philip Key}}</ref>

The play was revived at the Lyric, Hammersmith in 1990, directed by Hettie Macdonald, running between 26 July and 25 August.<ref name=MMDC>{{cite news |title=The writer of racial wrongs / Hope in hell |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-the-writer-of-racial-wrongs/192369074/ |access-date=28 February 2026 |work=The Guardian |date=7 August 1990 |page=33|via=Newspapers.com|author1=Mick Martin|author2=Desmond Christy}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Standard Entertainment Guide |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-standard-standard-entertainment/192369369/ |access-date=28 February 2026 |work=Evening Standard |date=24 July 1990 |page=35|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

After being included in Nicholas Wright's collection of 100 Best Plays, ''Leave Taking'' was picked to be produced by the National Theatre.<ref>{{cite news |title=Home is where the art is... |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-standard-home-is-where-the-art-i/192366488/ |access-date=28 February 2026 |work=Evening Standard |date=15 December 1994 |page=188 |via=Newspapers.com|author=Betty Caplan}}</ref> Directed by Paulette Randall, the production premiered at the Gulbenkian Theatre at the University of Kent in Canterbury on 8 December 1994.<ref name=NTA>{{cite web |title=Leave Taking |url=https://catalogue.nationaltheatre.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Performance&id=1535 |website=National Theatre Archive |access-date=28 February 2026 |archive-date=17 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250417221901/https://catalogue.nationaltheatre.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Performance&id=1535 |url-status=live }}</ref> It then transferred to the Cottesloe Theatre before a national tour which lasted until March 1995.<ref>{{cite news |title=Conflict of interest: National to bring award-winning play to town |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/huddersfield-daily-examiner-conflict-of/192366757/ |access-date=28 February 2026 |work=Huddersfield Daily Examiner |date=10 March 1995 |page=14 |via=Newspapers.com|author=Val Javin}}</ref>

The play was revived at the Bush Theatre in 2018, directed by Madani Younis.<ref name=BT /> Seraphina Beh and Nicholle Cherie starred as Del and Viv, Sarah Niles as Enid, Wil Johnson as Uncle Brod and Adjoa Andoh as Mai.<ref name=BT2>{{cite web |title=Meet the Cast: Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock |url=https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/news/meet-the-cast-leave-taking-by-winsome-pinnock/ |website=Bush Theatre |access-date=28 February 2026 |date=12 April 2018}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}} Category:1987 plays Category:Plays by Winsome Pinnock Category:Plays set in London Category:Award-winning plays