Maria Oshodi (born 1964) is a British writer and theatre director. A guide dog owner, she is Artistic director and CEO of
Extant Theatre Company, Britain's only professional performing arts company of blind and partially sighted people.
Life
Maria Oshodi was born in
South London in 1964.
Oshodi's play ''The 'S' Bend'' was chosen for the Young Writers' Festival at the
Royal Court Festival in 1984. Produced by the
Cockpit Youth Theatre in 1985, it was chosen for the first International Festival of Young Playwrights, Interplay '85, held in
Sydney.
''Blood, Sweat and Fears'', a play treating
sickle cell anaemia
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red b ...
, was written in response to a request from a worker at the Sickle Cell Centre in
Lambeth.
Ben is a fast-food worker who suffers from sickle cell anaemia, but resists pressure from his girlfriend Ashley to label himself as disabled. Once hospitalized, he has to attempt agency within a health-care system that is ill-informed and discriminatory.
The play was first presented by Harmony Arts at the
Battersea Arts Centre, with
Steven Woodcock
Steven Woodcock (born 23 February 1964) is an English actor, best known for his role as Clyde Tavernier in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''; a role that he played from July 1990 to July 1993.
Other television credits include ''Grange Hill'' ( ...
playing Ben and
Winsome Pinnock
Winsome Pinnock FRSL (born 1961) is a British playwright of Jamaican heritage, who is "probably Britain's most well known black female playwright". She was described in ''The Guardian'' as "the godmother of black British playwrights".
Life
Wins ...
also in the cast,
Black Plays Archive: Blood, Sweat and Fears
National Theatre. Accessed 21 July 2020. before touring England.
Plays
* ''The 'S' Bend''. Longman, 1986.
* ''Blood, Sweat and Fears''. Methuen, 1989.
References
External links
Black Plays Archive: Maria Oshodi
National Theatre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshodi, Maria
1964 births
Living people
English dramatists and playwrights
English theatre directors