Contemporary Plays By African Women Launches At The Belgrade Theatre

Writing by some of Africa's leading female playwrights will be performed at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre this February as part of a collaboration between the Belgrade, the University of Warwick and the African Women Playwrights Network.

Taking place at 6.30pm on Thursday 21 February, Contemporary Plays by African Women will showcase extracts of plays by writers including Adong Judith, Sara Shaarawi and Koleka Putuma. The extracts will be performed by members of the Belgrade Youth Theatre, directed by the Belgrade's Leon Phillips and Sebbie Mudhai, as well as the University of Warwick's Tenikah Beveney.

This special event marks the launch of a new book with the same title - only the second ever published collection of plays by African women and the first of its kind in ten years.

It is the first book to have come about as a result of the African Women Playwrights' Network, a project established at the University of Warwick to facilitate research and debate amongst a community of female creative practitioners living in Africa. Funded by an AHRC network grant, it has so far connected over 240 poets, playwrights, theatre-makers and researchers from 21 countries on the African continent and beyond.

The event will be hosted by Dr Yvette Hutchinson (co-editor of the collection with Amy Jephta) with playwrights JC Niala and Sara Shaarawi, and the Belgrade Theatre's Associate Director Justine Themen. It will include opportunities to participate in conversations with other artists, publishers, programmers and theatre makers about the place in the UK for stories of people from other countries, and how these can speak to local issues and concerns.

Contemporary Plays by African Women takes place at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry at 6.30pm on Thursday 21 February. Tickets are pay what you can, and are available to book now by calling the box office on 024 7655 3055 or visiting www.belgrade.co.uk.