Michael Abbensetts

Michael John Abbensetts (8 June 1938–24 November 2016) was born in Guyana, where he attended Queen’s College in Georgetown. He moved on to study in Canada at Stanstead College in Quebec and Sir George Williams University in Montreal.

His attraction to playwrighting was instigated by a performance of John Osbourne’s Look Back in Anger, which he saw in Montreal while studying there. Later, he decided to settle in Britain, where he relocated in 1963. Michael Abbensetts wrote short stories, plays, television scripts and radio plays. He made his debut in 1973 at the Royal Court Theatre with the staging of Sweet Talk, for which he later received the George Devine Award. Other work in theatre included Alterations (which premiered at New End Theatre, Hampstead), Samba (which premiered at the Tricycle), In the Mood, The Outlaw, El Dorado, The Lion and The Good Doctor’s Son (Alfred Fagon Award).

He became the first Black British playwright to be commissioned to write a television drama series, Empire Road. Other work in TV included Easy Money, Big George is Dead, Little Napoleons, The Museum Attendant, Black Christmas and Doctors (episode ‘Vanessa’s World’).

Radio plays included Home Again, The Sunny Side of the Street, Brothers of the Sword, The Fast Lane and The Dark Horse.

Michael Abbensetts was Resident Dramatist at the Royal Court Theatre, Visiting Professor of Drama at Carnegie-Mellon University in the United States, Writer in Residence at the University of North London and a Fellow at City and Guilds of London Art School.

Find out more about Michael Abbensetts work on the Black Plays Archive.

(Published February 2025)