Mustapha Matura
1939-2019
Born: Trinidad and Tobago, 1939
Biography
Mustapha Matura (17 December 1939 – 29 October 2019), born Noel Mathura, was an award-winning Trinidadian playwright living in London. Characterised by critic Michael Billington as “a pioneering black playwright who opened the doors for his successors”, Matura was the first British-based dramatist of colour to have a play in London’s West End, with Play Mas in 1974 which won him the Evening Standard’s ‘Most Promising Playwright’ Award. In 1978, he co-founded the Black Theatre Co-operative with Charlie Hanson. Matura was revered for his witty and often political plays set in his home country, including Playboy of the West Indies, Three Sisters (after Chekov) and Rum an’ Coca-Cola. He was a prolific creator of things: screenplays, short stories, poems, sketches, paintings and songs, all inspired by his eclectic life story and curiosity about people and life. Famous works of his include Welcome Home Jacko, The Coup, Nice, Meetings among other notable works. He is survived by his wife, Ingrid Selberg. In 2021, the Mustapha Matura Award and Mentoring Programme was set up in his memory to co-exist alongside the Alfred Fagon Award. The award is aimed at Black playwrights of Caribbean and African descent aged 25 and under and includes a cash prize of £3,000 and a nine month mentoring programme with a leading Black British playwright.
Productions
Playboy of the West Indies
Year: 1984
Staged in: Oxford Playhouse Company
Publications
Three Sisters by A.P. Chekov and Mustapha Matura
Year: 2006
Publisher: Oberon Books
Six Plays: As Time Goes By; Play Mas; Independence; Welcome Home Jacko; Nice; Meetings
Year: 1992
Publisher: Methuen Drama
Play Mas; Independence; Meetings
Year: 1982
Publisher: Methuen Publishing
Nice, Rum an' Coca Cola and Welcome Home Jacko : Three Plays by Mustapha Matura
Year: 1980
Publisher: Methuen New Theatre Script