{{Short description|British theatre company}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox company | name = Nitrobeat | trading_name = | logo = | type = Theatre company | successor = | founder = Mustapha Matura, Charlie Hanson | defunct = | fate = | area_served = | key_people = | industry = Arts & Entertainment | products = | production = | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | former_name = Black Theatre Co-operative (Black Theatre-Co-op) | footnotes = | intl = | foundation = {{start date and age|1979}} | location_city = | location_country = United Kingdom | locations = | homepage = {{URL|nitrobeat.co.uk}} }}
'''Nitrobeat''' is a British theatre company. Founded in 1979 as the '''Black Theatre Co-operative''' by the playwright Mustapha Matura and the director Charlie Hanson,<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Theatre Co-operative |url=https://www.blackplaysarchive.org.uk/explore/companies/black-theatre-co-operative |website=National Theatre Black Plays Archive |access-date=28 March 2022}}</ref> it was renamed '''Nitro''' in 1999. "Black Theatre Co-operative have been producing black theatre for longer than any other black company in Europe, and their existence has been significant to the careers of many of Britain's renowned black actors, actresses and playwrights."<ref name=CCBBC>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfdpdZ9DwH0C&pg=PA66 | first=Lynette |last=Goddard | chapter=Black Theatre Co-operative | title=Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture | isbn=9781134700257 | editor-last1=Donnell | editor-first1=Alison | editor-link=Alison Donnell | date=2002 | pages=48–49 }}</ref>
==History== The Black Theatre Co-operative's first production was of Mustapha Matura's play ''Welcome Home Jacko'', which was staged in May 1979 at "The Factory", a disused building in Paddington renovated for the company's use.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goddard |first1=Lynette |title=Staging Black Feminisms: Identity, Politics, Performance |date=2007 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |page=23}}</ref> The production was later revived in New York and the company has performed in South Korea, the Netherlands and Germany as well as touring extensively across the UK.<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Theatre Co-operative |url=https://www.unfinishedhistories.com/history/companies/black-theatre-co-operative/ |website=Unfinished Histories |first=Lucie |last=Regan|access-date=28 March 2022}}</ref> In the 1980s, the company wrote the television sitcom ''No Problem!'', starring Judith Jacob and Chris Tummings. In collaboration with the Nottingham Playhouse, the company's 1997 adaptation of Ray Shell's novel ''Iced'' toured nationally, and had a sell-out run at the Tricycle Theatre.<ref name=CCBBC/>
In 1999, the company was renamed as Nitro.<ref>Osborne, Deirdre (2006), "Writing black back: an overview of blacktheatre and performance in Britain", in ''Studies in Theatre and Performance'', Volume 26, Number 1, p. 24. doi: 10.1386/stap.26.1.13/1.</ref>
The company's artistic directors have included Felix Cross, Joan Ann Maynard and current director Diane Morgan. Early performers with the company included the actor Trevor Laird.
Nitrobeat has been a resident company at London's Soho Theatre since 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=About |url=http://www.nitrobeat.co.uk/about/ |website=Nitrobeat |access-date=28 March 2022}}</ref>
==See also== * Dark and Light Theatre Company * Talawa Theatre Company
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
Category:Arts organizations established in 1979 Category:Black British culture in London Category:Black theatre Category:Theatre companies in the United Kingdom