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Michael Abbensetts

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Michael Abbensetts
Born
Michael John Abbensetts

(1938-06-08)8 June 1938
Georgetown, British Guiana
Died24 November 2016(2016-11-24) (aged 78)
London
NationalityBritish
OccupationPlaywright
Notable workSweet Talk
Empire Road
Children1 daughter

Michael John Abbensetts (8 June 1938 – 24 November 2016)[1][2] was a Guyana-born British writer who settled in England in the 1960s. He had been described as "the best Black playwright to emerge from his generation,[3][4] and as having given "Caribbeans a real voice in Britain".[5][6] He was the first black British playwright commissioned to write a television drama series, Empire Road, which the BBC aired from 1978 to 1979.[1]

Early years

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Born in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), the son of Neville John (a doctor) and Elaine Abbensetts,[7] Michael Abbensetts attended Queen's College from 1952 to 1956, then Stanstead College, Quebec, Canada, and Sir George Williams University, in Montreal (1960–61), before moving to England "around 1963".[8][9] He became a British citizen in 1974.[10]

Writing career

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Although he began his writing career with short stories, Abbensetts had been attracted to playwriting after seeing a performance of John Osborne's Look Back In Anger in Montreal, while studying at university there, thereafter deciding to move to London to become a writer.[5][11] Abbensetts's work in stage drama debuted in 1973 at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs with his play Sweet Talk, which had a cast including Mona Hammond and Don Warrington, and was directed by Stephen Frears.[12] Abbensetts became the Royal Court's resident dramatist, and Sweet Talk won the George Devine Award,[13] shared with Mustafa Matura.[11] Soon afterwards, Abbensetts's first television play, The Museum Attendant, inspired by his own experience of having worked as a security guard at the Tower of London in the mid-1960s, was broadcast on BBC2,[5] His next television play for the BBC, Black Christmas, aired in 1977 and was also directed by Frears,[13] being described in The Stage as "totally mature… beautifully constructed".[11] Stephen Bourne has called it "one of the best television dramas of the 1970s".[14] From the 1970s to 1990s, Abbensetts continued his theatre career throughout London. His works during this time period included Alterations (premiered in 1978 at the New End Theatre in Hampstead, featuring Don Warrington), Samba (at the Tricycle Theatre in 1980, with Norman Beaton), The Outlaw (1983), and The Lion (1993).[15]

Apart from plays, Abbensetts was a screenwriter for Empire Road (BBC, 1978–79), produced by Peter Ansorge,[16] and considered British television's first Black soap opera, although Abbensetts said: "I never really liked it being called a Soap. It was The Daily Mail that called it that. I always thought of it as a drama series, where each episode had a separate story."[9] The second series was directed by Horace Ové, "establishing a production unit with a Black director, Black writer and Black actors."[13] The cast featured Norman Beaton, Corinne Skinner-Carter, Joseph Marcell, Rudolph Walker and Wayne Laryea.[17] In the early 1980s, Abbensetts was a member of independent production company Penumbra Productions, together with Horace Ové, H. O. Nazareth, and a number of other black creatives among whom were Lindsay Barrett, Margaret Busby, Farrukh Dhondy and Mustapha Matura.[18] Other television projects by Abbensetts include Easy Money (with Norman Beaton again in the lead, 1982)), Big George Is Dead (Channel 4, 1987), starring Beaton, Linzi Drew and Ram John Holder,[19] and the mini-series Little Napoleons (1994, Channel 4, the cast including Beaton, Saeed Jaffrey, Lesley Manville and Simon Callow).[11][20] The last television script Abbensetts wrote was for an episode of the television series Doctors, entitled "Vanessa's World", aired on 16 October 2001.[21][22]

Abbensetts won the 2004 Alfred Fagon Award for The Good Doctor's Son.[23]

Teaching and fellowships

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In 1983–84, Abbensetts was Visiting Professor of Drama at Carnegie-Mellon University. From September 2002, he was a Project Fellow in the Caribbean Studies Department of the University of North London (now London Metropolitan University). He was a Fellow at City and Guilds of London Art School, 2006–09.[13]

Later years and personal life

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With Abbensetts' health declining in his latter years as a result of Alzheimer's disease,[2][24] a tribute was organised for his benefit by Anton Phillips on Sunday, 9 December 2012: a rehearsed reading of Sweet Talk, directed by Phillips and attended by Abbensetts himself, was held at the Tricycle Theatre, with many well known figures in Black theatre and arts in the audience, including Yvonne Brewster, Don Warrington, Rudolph Walker, Oscar James, Allister Bain, and Errol Lloyd.[25]

Abbensetts died aged 78 on 24 November 2016, survived by his daughter, Justine, from his relationship with Anne Stewart, and by two grandchildren, Sean and Danielle, as well as a sister Elizabeth. His first wife Connie, a lawyer, had died of cancer towards the end of the 1980s, and in 2005 he was married to Liz Bluett, although they later separated.[1]

Recognition and legacy

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A portrait of Michael Abbensetts by Horace Ové is in the Photographs Collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.[26]

A property that Abbensetts bought in 1990 in Kilburn, London, where he lived for 16 years and wrote the series Little Napoleons for Channel 4, was chosen as the location for a Nubian Jak Community Trust blue plaque honouring him.[27]

Selected works

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Stage plays

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Television plays

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  • The Museum Attendant, BBC2, 1973
  • Inner City Blues, 1974;
  • Crime and Passion, 1975;
  • Roadrunner, 1977;
  • Black Christmas, BBC, 1977.
  • Empire Road, series, BBC, 1978–79.
  • Easy Money, BBC2 Playhouse, 1982.
  • Big George Is Dead, Channel 4, 1987.
  • Little Napoleons, mini-series, Channel 4, 1994.

Radio plays

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  • Sweet Talk, BBC Radio, 1974.
  • Home Again, BBC Radio, 1975.
  • The Sunny Side of the Street, BBC Radio, 1977.
  • Brothers of the Sword, BBC Radio, 1978.
  • Alterations, BBC World Service, 1980.
  • The Fast Lane, Capital Radio, 1980.
  • The Dark Horse, BBC Radio, 1981.

Bibliography

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  • Sweet Talk, London: Methuen, 1974.
  • Empire Road (novelisation of TV series), London: Grenada, 1979.
  • Four Plays (Sweet Talk; Alterations; In the Mood; El Dorado), London: Oberon Books, 2001. ISBN 9781840021790

References

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  1. ^ a b c Michael Coveney, "Michael Abbensetts obituary", The Guardian, 20 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b Michelle Yaa Asantewa, "Michael Abbensetts June 8th 1938 - November 24th 2016: The Play Must Go On", Way Wive Wordz, 25 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Playwright and Dramatist", Guyana Diaspora, 24 April 2006.
  4. ^ "Abbensetts, Michael, British Writer", Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC).
  5. ^ a b c Sarita Malik, "Abbensetts, Michael (1938-)", BFI Screenonline.
  6. ^ Theatre Communications Group Archived 2 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Michael Abbensetts Biography (1938–)", filmreference.com
  8. ^ Bourne, Stephen (2020). "Abbensetts, Michael John (1938–2016), playwright and television screenwriter". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.112173. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  9. ^ a b Michelle Stoby, "Black British Drama After Empire Road: An interview with Michael Abbensetts", Wasafiri, Issue 35, Spring 2002, pp. 3–8.
  10. ^ "Michael Abbensetts (1938 – )", Dollee.com
  11. ^ a b c d Quinn, Michael (14 December 2016). "Obituary: Michael Abbensetts". The Stage. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  12. ^ Stephen Bourne, "The Black Presence on the London Stage, 1825–1965: Some Key Players and a Timeline". Archived 14 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ a b c d "Michael Abbensetts 1938-2016". Royal Literary Fund. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  14. ^ Stephen Bourne, Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television, Continuum, 2005, p. 200.
  15. ^ "Michael Abbensetts", National Theatre, Black Plays Archive.
  16. ^ "Empire Road (1978–1979) | Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  17. ^ Wambu, Onyekachi. "Empire Road (1978-79)". Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  18. ^ Busby, Margaret (November 2016). "2015: The Year of Being Connected, Exhibition-wise". Wasafiri. 31 (4).
  19. ^ "Big George Is Dead" at IMDb.
  20. ^ "Little Napoleons" at IMDb.
  21. ^ "Michael Abbensetts 1938-2016". What Was Pebble Mill?. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  22. ^ "Doctors S3.E32 | Vanessa's World". IMDb. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  23. ^ "2004 Award | The Good Doctor's Son by Michael Abbensetts wins the Award", Alfred Fagon Award.
  24. ^ Max Walters, "Cricklewood pensioner missing after visiting Northwick Park Hospital", Brent and Kilburn Times, 4 July 2012.
  25. ^ John Gulliver, "Playwright who gave black actors a dramatic entrance" Archived 11 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Camden New Journal, 13 December 2012.
  26. ^ "Michael Abbensetts" by Horace Ové, National Portrait Gallery.
  27. ^ Mohdin, Aamna (26 July 2023). "Groundbreaking black British playwright to be honoured with blue plaque". The Guardian.
  • Leavy, Suzan. "Abbensetts an Example". Television Today (London, England), 19 May 1994.
  • Walters, Margaret. "Taking Race for Granted". New Society (London, England), 16 November 1978.
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