Mustapha Matura

Mustapha Matura (1939-) is a Trinidadian playwright living in London.

In 1971 his play As Time Goes By was first performed at the Traverse Theatre Club in Edinburgh and the Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, with a cast of noted Caribbean actors including Stefan Kalipha, Alfred Fagon, Mona Hammond and Corinne Skinner-Carter. Play Mas was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 1974 (with Stefan Kalipha, Rudolph Walker, Norman Beaton and Mona Hammond in the cast). In 1974 Matura received the Evening Standard’s Most Promising Playwright Award. Among his subsequent plays are Rum and Coca Cola (1976), Independence (1979), and The Coup (1991).

His work for television includes the Channel 4 sitcom No Problem! (1983-5), written by Matura with Farrukh Dhondy, and Black Silk (BBC, 1985), which he devised in collaboration with Rudy Narayan.

He is married to Ingrid Selberg, daughter of Norwegian mathematician Atle Selberg.

Works

• Playboy of the West Indies
• As Time Goes By
• Play Mas
• Independence
• Welcome Home Jacko
• Nice
• Meetings

Awards

Mustapha Matura has received a number of awards throughout his career, in the UK and in Trinidad.

• 1994 : The Helen Hayes Award.
• 1991 : Trinidad National Award - The Scarlet Ibis Gold.
• 1974 : The Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award.
• 1971 : The John Whiting Award.
• 1971 : The George Devine Award.

Further reading

• "'Ter Speak in yer mudder tongue': An interview with playwright Mustapha Matura" in Kwesi Owusu (ed.), Black British Culture & Society, Routledge, 2000.

External links

• Mustapha Matura's Web site
• Mustapha Matura on Living in London
• Mustapha Matura at the British Film Institute's Screenonline

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Name	Matura, Mustapha
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Date of birth	1939
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