Michael McMillan (born 1962) is a British playwright, artist, curator and educator, born in England to parents who were migrants from
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...
(SVG).
["Artists: Michael McMillan"]
Peckham Platform. As an academic, he focuses his research on "the creative process, ethnography, oral histories, material culture and performativity".
He is the author of several plays, and as an artist his first installation, ''The West Indian Front Room'', was exhibited at the
Geffrye Museum
The Museum of the Home, formerly the Geffrye Museum, is a free museum in the 18th-century Grade I-listed former almshouses on Kingsland Road in Shoreditch, London. The museum explores home and home life from 1600 to the present day with gallerie ...
in 2005, going on to inspire a 2007
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 documentary ''Tales from the Front Room'', a website, a 2009 book, ''The Front Room: Migrant Aesthetics in the Home'', and various international commissions, such as ''Van Huis Uit: The Living Room of Migrants in the Netherlands'' (Imagine IC,
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, and Netherlands Tour, 2007–08) and ''A Living Room Surrounded by Salt'' (IBB,
Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
, 2008).
A more recent installation of the
Walter Rodney Bookshop featured as part of the 2015 exhibition ''
No Colour Bar'' at the
Guildhall Art Gallery
The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guild ...
.
McMillan has said of the range of his work: "I was a painter before I was a playwright/dramatist and through making live art pieces and writing critically about performance, photography, visual arts culture, I have come home in a sense to fine arts, through making mixed-media installations, which given my interest in performativity background can be seen also as theatre sets. My work and practice is often interdisciplinary using mixed media, installations and performance."
Life and career
Michael McMillan was born in 1962 in
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...
, UK, of
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
migrant heritage;
as he has said, "Both my parents came from
St Vincent & the Grenadines and ... were 'arrivants', to use
Edward Kamau Brathwaite
The Honourable Edward Kamau Brathwaite, CHB (; 11 May 1930 – 4 February 2020), was a Barbadian poet and academic, widely considered one of the major voices in the Caribbean literary canon.Staff (2011)"Kamau Brathwaite." New York University, D ...
's term, from colonies where they were imbued with English culture."
["Michael McMillan reviews - Migrations: Journeys into British Art - Tate Britain 31 Jan - 12 Aug 2012" (biographical note)]
''Wasafiri
''Wasafiri'' is a quarterly British literary magazine covering international contemporary writing. Founded in 1984, the magazine derives its name from a Swahili word meaning "travellers" that is etymologically linked with the Arabic word "safari" ...
'', 7 March 2012. Given this background, he has said, "I grew up with learning three languages: the creole spoken by my parents as a fusion of an English lexicon and an African grammar; the
Jamaican English
Jamaican English, including Jamaican Standard English, is a variety of English native to Jamaica and is the official language of the country. A distinction exists between Jamaican English and Jamaican Patois (or Creole), though not entirely a ...
spoken on the streets of
Hackney and around London and the London English spoken at school." He won an essay competition, run by
Len Garrison
Lenford Alphonso (Kwesi) Garrison (13 June 1943 – 18 February 2003) was an educationalist, community activist and historian whose life's work was to catalogue the development of the black British identity and its history and promote the works o ...
's ACER (Afro-Caribbean Education Resource), and after going to
FESTAC 77
Festac '77, also known as the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (the first was in Dakar, 1966), was a major international festival held in Lagos, Nigeria, from 15 January 1977 to 12 February 1977. The month-long event ce ...
(the Second World Festival of African Arts and Culture), he wrote his play ''The School Leaver'' (1978), which was produced at the
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...
's Young Writers' Festival.
["Michael McMillan"]
Black Plays Archive, National Theatre.
McMillan read sociology and African and Asian studies at
Sussex University
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
, graduating in 1984,
["Michael McMillan , St. Vincent – UK"]
Uprising Art, 12 April 2012. and then earned an MA degree in Independent Film & Video from
Central Saint Martins
Central Saint Martins is a public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...
, London, in 1991.
["CSM Alumnus Michael McMillan"]
en>route, UAL. From 2000, he was a
Royal Literary Fund The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long ...
Writing Fellow at the
London College of Communication
The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...
and went on to become, since 2003, a Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the
University of the Arts London
University of the Arts London is a collegiate university in London, England, specialising in arts, design, fashion and the performing arts. It is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea Coll ...
(UAL), and a researcher and Associate Lecturer at the
London College of Fashion
The London College of Fashion is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, in London, England. It offers undergraduate, postgraduate, short courses, study abroad courses and business-training in fashion, make-up, beauty-therap ...
(LCF), teaching predominantly Cultural & Historical Studies.
He was awarded a practice-based Arts Doctorate from
Middlesex University
Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...
in 2010.
["Clothes, Cloth and Culture Group: 'Saga Bwoys' and Bedouin Women"]
InIVA, 25 September 2014. In 2010–11, he was Arts in Health & Well Being artist-in-residence in
North Wales
, area_land_km2 = 6,172
, postal_code_type = Postcode
, postal_code = LL, CH, SY
, image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg
, map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
.
Writing
McMillan's interest in oral history and the stories of first-generation Caribbean migrants is reflected in early writings such as ''Brother to Brother'' (1996) and ''The Black Boy Pub & Other Stories'' (1997), which used recordings of interviews done during a year's residence in High Wycombe, where many of those arriving in particular from SVG had settled. As a dramatist, he has had work performed and produced by the
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...
,
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
,
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
, and in venues across the UK.
[Michael McMillan]
at Doollee.com. His play ''The School Leaver'' was published by the
Black Ink Collective
Black Ink Collective was a British publishing company founded in 1978 to publish the work of young Black writers in the UK.
The Collective started as a publisher, their first book ''Black Ink'', published in 1978, was an anthology of work by loca ...
in 1978, when McMillan was 16 years old, and was reprinted several times. His other plays include ''Master Juba'' (2006), ''Babel Junction'' (2006), and a new translation of
Bertholt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
's ''
The Good Person of Sezuan
''The Good Person of Szechwan'' (german: Der gute Mensch von Sezuan, first translated less literally as ''The Good Man of Setzuan'') is a play written by the Germany, German playwdramatist Bertolt Brecht, in collaboration with Margarete Steffin an ...
'', set in
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 Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
in the 1980s.
McMillan has written a number of essays and articles in national and international publications, and has presented papers at conferences and symposiums in the UK, Europe, Canada, USA, Caribbean and Brazil, including as keynote speaker at the 2006 "Islands in Between" Conference on Language, Literature & History of the Eastern Caribbean (
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 ...
, School of Continuing Studies, St. Vincent & the Grenadines).
Installations
Alongside teaching, McMillan has also worked on mixed-media exhibitions and publications. His first installation, ''The West Indian Front Room'' (he uses "the term 'West Indian' as it refers to a particular moment of post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Caribbean migration to England and the wider Diaspora"),
[Clelia Coussonnet]
"Exclusive Interview: Michael McMillan – in the framework of the exhibition Who More Sci-Fi than Us" (May 2012)
Uprising Art, 2 July 2012. drew on memories of the domestic setting created by his parents and their like after they migrated to Britain, featuring a recreation of a typical front room of the 1970s to raise "questions about the constructions of diaspora, identity, race, class and gender in the domestic interior". According to cultural theorist
Stuart Hall, "The front room is a conservative element of black domestic life, which is more complex and rich than the generality of the society ever realises"; nevertheless, McMillan recalled in an article in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'':
"Growing up in our front room caused me much aesthetic distress. The wallpaper and carpet never seemed to match, and Jim Reeves would be crooning from the Blue Spot radiogram on a Sunday. This room was based on the Victorian parlour and was inscribed with a formal code of behaviour because it was reserved for receiving guests. It was packed with furniture, ornaments and soft furnishings surrounded by a gallery of pictures and photographs."[Michael McMillan]
"Home is where the art is — The front rooms of African-Caribbean immigrants to the UK are centre stage in a new book"
''The Guardian'', 16 September 2009.
Mounted at London's
Geffrye Museum
The Museum of the Home, formerly the Geffrye Museum, is a free museum in the 18th-century Grade I-listed former almshouses on Kingsland Road in Shoreditch, London. The museum explores home and home life from 1600 to the present day with gallerie ...
in October 2005, the critically acclaimed exhibition resonated with more than 35,000 visitors who represented a variety of ages, genders and social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Different versions have since been remade in other countries and cultural settings, including in the Netherlands and in Curaçao, and the associated BBC4 television documentary ''Tales from the Front Room'' was broadcast in 2007. He has also made presentations on ''The Front Room'' at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
(2009),
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...
, Worcester (2009) and
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, (2008).
["The committee"]
Origins of the Afro Comb. A book entitled ''The Front Room: Migrant Aesthetics in the Home'' followed in 2009.
Another installation-based exhibition was ''The Beauty Shop'' (2008) at the
198 Gallery in south London, where, as with ''The Front Room'', McMillan "tried to create a tangible sense of performance. Visitors were encouraged to respond to them as theatre as much as art."
In 2015, he recreated the
Walter Rodney Bookshop as an installation within the exhibition ''
No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990'' at the
Guildhall Art Gallery
The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guild ...
(July 2015–January 2016), and participated in related events.
Another recent work is ''Doing Nothing Is Not An Option'', a site-responsive mixed-media installation to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of
Ken Saro-Wiwa
Kenule Beeson "Ken" Saro-Wiwa (10 October 1941 – 10 November 1995) was a Nigerian writer, television producer, and environmental activist. Ken Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland, Ogonilan ...
by exploring the relationship between local people in
Peckham
Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720.
History
"Peckham" is a Saxon p ...
and the memory of the
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
n writer and activist.
Selected curatorial work
* ''Van Huis Uit: The Living Room of Migrants in the Netherlands'' (Imagine IC, Amsterdam, and Netherlands Tour, 2007–08)
* ''A Living Room Surrounded by Salt'' (Instituto Buena Bista,
Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
, 2008)
* ''The Beauty Shop'' (
198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, Brixton, 25 January 2008 – 28 March 2013)
* ''The West Indian Front Room'' (
Geffrye Museum
The Museum of the Home, formerly the Geffrye Museum, is a free museum in the 18th-century Grade I-listed former almshouses on Kingsland Road in Shoreditch, London. The museum explores home and home life from 1600 to the present day with gallerie ...
, 2005–06)
* ''The Southall Story'' (South Bank Centre, 2010)
* "I Miss My Mum’s Cooking" (in ''Who More Sci-Fi Than Us'', KAdE Kunsthal,
Amersfoort
Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...
,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, 2012)
* "The Waiting Room" (in ''Stories and Journeys'',
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
Museum & Art Gallery,
Bangor,
North Wales
, area_land_km2 = 6,172
, postal_code_type = Postcode
, postal_code = LL, CH, SY
, image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg
, map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
, 2012)
* "My Hair: Black Hair Culture, Style and Politics" (in ''Origins of the Afro Comb'', Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2013)
* "The Walter Rodney Bookshop" (in ''
No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960–1990'',
Guildhall Art Gallery
The Guildhall Art Gallery houses the art collection of the City of London, England. The museum is located in the Moorgate area of the City of London. It is a stone building in a semi-Gothic style intended to be sympathetic to the historic Guild ...
, 10 July 2015 – 24 January 2016)
Selected publications
* ''The School Leaver'' (
Black Ink Collective
Black Ink Collective was a British publishing company founded in 1978 to publish the work of young Black writers in the UK.
The Collective started as a publisher, their first book ''Black Ink'', published in 1978, was an anthology of work by loca ...
, 1978)
* ''On Duty'' (Akira Press, 1984)
* Editor, ''Words, Sounds & Power Anthology'' (Centerprise Publishing Project, 1988)
* ''Living Proof: Views of a World Living with HIV/AIDS'' (Artist Agency, 1992).
* ''The Black Boy Pub & Other Stories: The black experience in High Wycombe'' (Wycombe District Council, 1997).
* ''If I Could Fly: An anthology of writings from young men at Orchard Lodge Resource Centre'' (Southwark Social Services, 1998).
* ''Growing Up Is Hard To Do: A Book For Young People & Adults About Sexual Health'' (Young People's Health Project, 2000).
* ''Same Difference: 25 Years of International Youth Volunteering with the Daneford Trust'' (2006).
* ''The Waiting Room: An audio-visual tale of an artist in residence at the Alaw Ward (Cancer & Palliative Care Unit) in Ysbyty Gwynedd & Rheumatology Clinics in Ysbyty Gwynedd and Ysbyty Llandudno'' (2006)
* ''The Front Room: Migrant Aesthetics in the Home'' (Black Dog Publishing, 2009, )
Plays and performance pieces
* ''The School Leaver'' (
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...
, 1978)
* ''Hard Time Pressure'' (Royal Court Theatre, 1980)
* ''Carve Your Name'' (
The Old Vic Theatre
The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal V ...
, 1981)
* ''Day of Action'' (Brent Black People's Theatre, 1981)
* ''On Duty'' (Carlton Centre, Kilburn, 1983)
* ''First Impressions'' (Perspective Theatre Company, 1988)
* ''Portrait of a Shopping Centre as a Cathedral'' (1990)
* ''The Last Blind Date'' (Artists Alliance/Live Theatre, 1992)
* ''Invisible'' (Double Edge Theatre Company; 1993 & 1998)
* ''Brother to Brother'' (
Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London. and tour, 1996 & 1998); in Cheryl Robson (ed.), ''Black and Asian Plays Anthology'', Aurora Metro, 2000
* ''I Hope It's Not a Black Man'' (1996)
* ''After Windrush'' (
Oval House Theatre
Ovalhouse, formerly called Oval House Theatre, was an Off-West End theatre in the London Borough of Lambeth, located at 52–54 Kennington Oval, London, SE11 5SW. It closed in 2020, and moved to Brixton, becoming the Brixton House theatre (located ...
, 1998)
* ''Blood for Britain'' (BBC Radio 4 Drama, 2001)
* ''Can you Play Football?'' (2004)
* ''Babel Junction'' (
Empire Theatre, 2006)
* ''Master Juba'' (Luton Library Theatre, Albany Theatre, 2006)
"Master Juba"
Black Plays Archive, National Theatre.
* New translation of ''The Good Person of Sezuan
''The Good Person of Szechwan'' (german: Der gute Mensch von Sezuan, first translated less literally as ''The Good Man of Setzuan'') is a play written by the Germany, German playwdramatist Bertolt Brecht, in collaboration with Margarete Steffin an ...
'' by Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
(2010 & 2012)
References
External links
"Michael McMillan , St. Vincent – UK"
Uprising Art.
"Exclusive Interview: Michael McMillan – in the framework of the exhibition Who More Sci-Fi than Us"
Uprising Art, 2 July 2012.
"Michael McMillan"
Black Plays Archive, National Theatre.
at Doollee.com.
"Artist Shiraz Bayjoo In Conversation with Michael McMillan, 5 Feb 2015"
InivaArts. YouTube.
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Michael
1962 births
20th-century British dramatists and playwrights
20th-century male writers
21st-century male writers
Academics of the University of the Arts London
Alumni of Central Saint Martins
Alumni of the University of Sussex
Black British academics
Black British artists
Black British writers
British curators
English curators
English people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines descent
Living people