Leave Taking

Leave Taking focuses on a British-Jamaican mother, Enid, and her two teenage daughters, Del and Viv, who live in North London. Enid moved from Jamaica as part of the Windrush generation with the promise of a better life, but now works two jobs to support bringing up her daughters. She worries about them and seeks guidance from Mai, an Obeah woman to whom she goes for readings, and from Broderick, a family friend.

Leave Taking premiered at the Liverpool Playhouse on 11 November 1987, directed by Kate Rowland and running until 5 December.^[9] Philip Key, writing for the Liverpool Daily Post, said that the play was "a finely-hewn piece of writing" and "possess[ed] a universal appeal".^[2] Key named it as among the contenders for the Daily Post's Best New Play of 1987 alongside Self Portrait by Sheila Yeger, but they were beaten by Barnaby and the Old Boys by Keith Baxter.^[10]

The play was revived at the Lyric, Hammersmith in 1990, directed by Hettie Macdonald, running between 26 July and 25 August.^[6][11]

After being included in Nicholas Wright's collection of 100 Best Plays, Leave Taking was picked to be produced by the National Theatre.^[12] Directed by Paulette Randall, the production premiered at the Gulbenkian Theatre at the University of Kent in Cantebury on 8 December 1994.^[7] It then transferred to the Cottesloe Theatre before a national tour which lasted until March 1995.^[13]

The play was revived at the Bush Theatre in 2018, directed by Madani Younis.^[3] Seraphina Beh and Nicholle Cherie starred as Del and Viv, Sarah Niles as Enid, Wil Johnson as Uncle Brod and Adjoa Andoh as Mai.^[8]