T-Bone Wilson

T-Bone Wilson
Born	Guyana
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Mountview Theatre School
Occupation(s)	Actor, dramatist, poet

T-Bone Wilson is a Guyanese-British actor, dramatist and poet. ^[1]

Life

Wilson came to England from Guyana in 1962 as an engineering student. Deciding to take up drama, he trained at the Mountview Theatre School. ^[2] Wilson acted in Mustapha Matura's series of short plays, Black Pieces, ^[1] staged by Roland Rees at the ICA in 1970. ^[3] Wilson was inspired to become a playwright himself, ^[4] writing Jumbie Street March, Body and Soul (1974) and Come Jubilee (1977). ^[5] Jumbie Street March was produced by the Dark and Light Theatre Company. ^[6]

As a theatre actor, Wilson performed in the National Theatre's 1981 production of Measure for Measure , the first main-stage Shakespeare by a national theatre company to employ a majority of ethnic minority actors. ^[7] He played Banquo in a 1984 production of Macbeth at the Young Vic Theatre. ^[8]

Wilson appeared in the 1979 television drama A Hole in Babylon, based on events leading up to the 1975 Spaghetti House siege. ^[9] He also appeared in Franco Rosso's 1980 film Babylon , which portrayed sound system culture and racism in Brixton. ^[10]

Writing

Poetry

• Wilson, T-Bone (1980). Counterblast. London: Karnak House. ISBN   0907015026. ^[11]

Plays

• Wilson, T-Bone (1974). Body and Soul. London: Keskidee Arts Centre. ^[12]
• Wilson, T-Bone (1972). Come Jubilee. London: Bush Theatre. ^{[13] [14]}

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1975	Pressure	Junior	Released 1978	[15]
1977	Black Joy	Shark		[16]
1980	Babylon	Wesley		[17]
1982	Prime Suspect 2

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1976	The Melting Pot
1979	Play for Today	Frank Davies	Series 10, Episode 7 "A Hole in Babylon"	[18] [19]

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Notes	Ref.
1970s	Jumbie Street March		Keskidee Arts Centre	Also playwright	[20] [21]
1981	Measure for Measure	First Gentleman	National Threatre, Lyttelton Theatre		[7]
1984	Macbeth	Banquo	Young Vic Theatre		[8]

References

1. Procter, James (2002). "Wilson, T-Bone". In Alison Donnell (ed.). Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture. Routledge. pp. 71–2. ISBN   978-1-134-70025-7.
2. "T-Bone Wilson". British Black and Asian Shakespeare Database. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
3. Billington, Michael (1 November 2019). "Mustapha Matura obituary". The Guardian . Retrieved 6 February 2021.
4. Megson, Chris (2012). Modern British Playwriting: The 1970s: Voices, Documents, New Interpretations. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 57. ISBN   978-1-4081-2939-5.
5. "T Bone Wilson | Biography". Black Plays Archive. National Theatre. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
6. Davis, Geoffrey V. (2006). Staging New Britain: Aspects of Black and South Asian British Theatre Practice. Peter Lang. p. 50. ISBN   978-90-5201-042-7.
7. "Measure for Measure (1981)". British Black and Asian Shakespeare Database. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
8. "Macbeth (1984)". British Black and Asian Shakespeare Database. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
9. Bourne, Stephen (2005). Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television. A&C Black. p. 201. ISBN   978-0-8264-7898-6.
10. Newland, Paul (2010). "We Know Where We're Going, We Know Where We're From: Babylon". In Paul Newland (ed.). Don't Look Now: British Cinema in the 1970s. Intellect Books. p. 98. ISBN   978-1-84150-389-9.
11. "Counterblast". Library search: Goldsmiths, University of London. London: Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
12. "Body and Soul". Black Plays Archive. London: National Theater. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
13. "Come Jubilee". Black Plays Archive. London: National Theater. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
14. "Poster by Oscar Zarete". Victoria and Albert Museum . Retrieved 6 February 2021.
15. British Film Institute. "Pressure". Collections Search BFI. London: British Film Institute. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
16. British Film Institute. "Black Joy". Collections Search BFI. London: British Film Institute. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
17. British Film Institute. "Babylon". Collections Search BFI. London: British Film Institute. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
18. "A Hole in Babylon". Mubi. London: Mubi. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
19. Wambu, Onyekachi. "Hole in Babylon, A (1979)". BFI Screenonline. London: BFI. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
20. "Jumbie Street March". Black Plays Archive. London: National Threatre. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
21. "JLR/2/5/3 Keskidee Centre, 1971-1979". Catalogue George Padmore Institute. London: George Padmore Institute. Retrieved 13 September 2025.

External links

• T-Bone Wilson at IMDb