Barry Reckord
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Barrington John Reckord (19 November 1926 – 20 December 2011), known as Barry Reckord, was a Jamaican playwright, one of the earliest Caribbean writers to make a contribution to theatre in Britain. His brother was the actor and director
Lloyd Reckord Lloyd Reckord (26 May 1929 – 8 July 2015) was a Jamaican actor, film maker, and stage director who lived in England for some years. Reckord appeared in 1958 in a West End production of '' Hot Summer Night'', which as an ITV adaptation broadc ...
, with whom he sometimes worked.


Early years and education

Barrington John Reckord was born in
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
, Jamaica, where he grew up in
Vineyard Town Vineyard Town is a neighbourhood in Kingston, Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispan ...
with his three siblings: two brothers, Carol and Lloyd, and a sister Cynthia. He attended Kingston College and after matriculation went on to study theology at St Peter's College in 1948. He left the island in 1950 after winning an
Issa Scholarship Issa or ISSA may refer to: Acronyms and abbreviations *Independent Schools Sports Association, now known as the Sports Association for Adelaide Schools *Information Systems Security Association * Instituto Superior de Secretariado y Administracio ...
to Cambridge University, where he read for a degree at Emmanuel College, graduating in 1953.


Writing career

He began writing plays as a student and several of them were performed at London's Royal Court Theatre (he is claimed as the first Black Briton to have had a play on there), sometimes directed by his brother
Lloyd Reckord Lloyd Reckord (26 May 1929 – 8 July 2015) was a Jamaican actor, film maker, and stage director who lived in England for some years. Reckord appeared in 1958 in a West End production of '' Hot Summer Night'', which as an ITV adaptation broadc ...
. ''Della'', Barry Reckord's first play, which (as ''Adella'') had been staged by his brother in a small fringe production in 1954, was produced under the title ''Flesh to a Tiger'' at the Royal Court in 1958, directed by Tony Richardson, with a cast that featured
Cleo Laine Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Bullock; 28 October 1927)Pearl Prescod, Nadia Cattouse, Johnny Sekka and Lloyd Reckord, and choreography by Boscoe Holder. The play dealt with the attempts by a cult leader to enforce his wishes on a female member of his congregation. In 1961 the Royal Court also produced ''
You in Your Small Corner "You in Your Small Corner" is a British television play shown in the ''Play of the Week'' series on the Independent Television (ITV) on 5 June 1962. It was formerly believed to include the first televised interracial kiss on British television ...
'', which transferred to the
New Arts Theatre The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. History It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamber ...
and was subsequently adapted for ITV's ''
Play of the Week Play of the Week may refer to: *''ITV Play of the Week'', British TV anthology series broadcast from 1956 to 1966 *''The Play of the Week'', American TV anthology series broadcast from 1959 to 1961 See also *''Play of the Month ''Play of the M ...
'' series in an episode that aired on 5 June 1962, directed by Claude Whatham. This broadcast was once thought to contain the first interracial kiss on television between Lloyd Reckord, the playwright's brother, and Elizabeth MacLennan, although this is no longer the case. Reckord's most successful play '' Skyvers'', first produced in 1963 at the Royal Court (directed by Ann Jellicoe, with an all-white cast that included
David Hemmings David Edward Leslie Hemmings (18 November 1941 – 3 December 2003) was an English actor and director. He is best remembered for his roles in British films and television programmes of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the 1966 mystery film ' ...
), is considered by ''
Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
'' critic Michael Billington to be "one of the key plays of the 1960s", prefiguring
Edward Bond Edward Bond (born 18 July 1934) is an English playwright, theatre director, poet, theorist and screenwriter. He is the author of some fifty plays, among them '' Saved'' (1965), the production of which was instrumental in the abolition of the ...
's 1965 '' Saved''. ''Skyvers'', which deals with the alienation of a group of working-class south London boys in the last few days at their
comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...
, was broadcast on
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
in November 2012 as part of a series of plays curated by Kwame Kwei-Armah, after lobbying to ensure better recognition for black dramatists. Reckord wrote other television dramas, including for the BBC ''In the Beautiful Caribbean'' (1972) and ''Club Havana'' (1975), as well as a book about Cuba entitled ''Does Fidel Eat More Than Your Father'' (Praeger, 1971). In 1973 he received a
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been ...
Fellowship to Assist Research and Artistic Creation. Also in 1973, Reckord was awarded the Silver Musgrave Medal by the Institute of Jamaica.


Final years

Reckord spent most of his adult life in Britain, for more than four decades with his companion Diana Athill, who in her memoirs has written candidly about their unconventional relationship, both as lovers and friends. When in the 1970s he decided to produce his new play ''White Witch'' in Jamaica, the central role was won by a young woman named Sally Cary, a farmer's daughter from Somerset, who began an intimate involvement with the playwright that continued on their return to London, leading Athill to conclude: "since she was spending almost every night in Barry's bed, keeping her bedsitter was a waste of money, so I suggested that she move in with us.... When Sally joined us what I felt was that I now had a lovely new friend in the house, as well as a darling old one, and the next two years or so were some of the happiest I can remember." In the last few years of his life Reckord suffered from ill health, eventually moving back to Jamaica to live with family. He died on the island in Boscobel, Saint Mary Parish, in December 2011, aged 85. In accordance with his wishes, his body was donated to the
University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...
for medical research.


Legacy

On 23 September 2012, a tribute to Reckord's life and work, called "Reckord Celebrations" (directed by Michael Buffong for Talawa Theatre Company and The London Hub), was held at the
Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...
,
Shepherd's Bush, London Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...
, with contributors including Max Stafford-Clark, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Don Warrington and Diana Athill. At the same time The London Hub launched the Barry Reckord Bursary, open to black, Asian and minority ethnic ( BAME) artists, and designed to encourage new playwrights. As Michael Billington commented in '' The Guardian'': "It's good to see Reckord at last being given his due. But one way to celebrate a playwright is to encourage his successors."Michael Billington
"Why the best way to honour past playwrights is to invest in the future"
''The Guardian'', 18 September 2012.
The first recipient of the Barry Reckord Bursary was announced as Ravi Thornton in January 2013. In April 2017, theatre company Thee Black Swan in association with the Chelsea Theatre in London staged a new production of Reckord's play ''White Witch'', presented for the first time in the UK. Set in 18th-century Jamaica at Rose Hall mansion, and based on a true story, the play tells of a young white woman who falls in love with a black man at a time when their relationship is taboo, and of the fallout – "a tale of mysticism, love, cruelty and revenge cast against the unforgiving backdrop of the transatlantic slave trade." Earning five-star reviews, ''White Witch'' in this production by Joseph Charles was described by ''The London Journalist'' as "an intensely delicious and powerful play.... truly theatre at its best: cruelly assaulting the senses of the audience, stimulating unconscious fears, desires and prejudices, and allowing unrepressed joy to burst forth... A supreme performance from a small company shouting loudly from the shadows."


Selected plays

*1953: ''Della'' (
Ward Theatre Kingston Theatre, was a theatre in Kingston, Jamaica between 1775 and 1838. It was a major cultural center of the island during its duration and had a good reputation also outside of the island, giving Jamaica a name of cultural sophistication, a ...
, Kingston, Jamaica) *1954: ''Adella'' (London) *1958: '' Flesh to a Tiger'' ( Royal Court Theatre, London) *1960: ''
You in Your Small Corner "You in Your Small Corner" is a British television play shown in the ''Play of the Week'' series on the Independent Television (ITV) on 5 June 1962. It was formerly believed to include the first televised interracial kiss on British television ...
'' (Royal Court); adapted for Granada Television's ''
Play of the Week Play of the Week may refer to: *''ITV Play of the Week'', British TV anthology series broadcast from 1956 to 1966 *''The Play of the Week'', American TV anthology series broadcast from 1959 to 1961 See also *''Play of the Month ''Play of the M ...
'' strand, 1962 *1963, 1971: '' Skyvers'' (Royal Court) *1969: ''Don't Gas the Blacks'' (Royal Court; directed by
Lloyd Reckord Lloyd Reckord (26 May 1929 – 8 July 2015) was a Jamaican actor, film maker, and stage director who lived in England for some years. Reckord appeared in 1958 in a West End production of '' Hot Summer Night'', which as an ITV adaptation broadc ...
) *1970: ''A Liberated Woman'' (Royal Court) *1973: ''Give the Gaffers Time To Love You'' (Royal Court, Theatre Upstairs) *1974: ''X'' (Royal Court, Theatre Upstairs) *1975: ''White Witch of Rose Hall'' (Creative Arts Centre,
University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...
, Mona Campus, Jamaica, 4 October)Barry Reckord (1926-2011)
, doollee.com.
*1984: ''Streetwise'' *1988: ''Sugar D'' (Barn Theatre, Kingston, Jamaica)


Bibliography

* Yvonne Brewster, ed.
''For the Reckord''
(a collection of three plays by Barry Reckord: ''Flesh to a Tiger''; ''Skyvers''; ''The White Witch''). London: Oberon Books, 2010.


References


External links

*
Barry Reckord
at Black Plays Archive, National Theatre
Barry Reckord (1926-2011)
, doollee.com
Lady Runcie, Wylie Vale, Israel Baker, Barry Reckord and Reginald Hill
'' Last Word'', BBC Radio 4, broadcast 22 January 2012
"Barry Reckord"
Creolita, 10 December 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Reckord, Barry 1926 births 2011 deaths Jamaican dramatists and playwrights Jamaican male writers Jamaican screenwriters Recipients of the Musgrave Medal Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Black British writers Male screenwriters British male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights People from Kingston, Jamaica Migrants from British Jamaica to the United Kingdom 20th-century Jamaican writers 20th-century British male writers