Bonnie Greer Radio Plays
Bonnie Greer (16 November 1948 - 15 September 2026) was an American and British playwright, novelist, critic and broadcaster, who lived in the UK from 1986 until her death in 2026. She wrote a number of radio plays for BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, focusing heavily on the lives of minority groups within majority cultures, women's experiences and intersecting women's identities.
She also appeared on radio discussion programmes, features and panel shows.
Her plays included Munda Negra (1993), concerning the mental health problems of black women, Dancing on Blackwater (1994) and Jitterbug (2001), and the musicals 'Solid and Marilyn' and Ella. The Marilyn piece began as a radio play broadcast in December 2005 (Marilyn and Ella Backstage at the Mocambo) after Bonnie watched a documentary on Marilyn Monroe. It mentioned Marilyn helping Ella Fitzgerald when segregation rules prevented the singer from working at certain venues, including the Mocambo club.
A few of Bonnie's plays are listed below.
BONNIE GREER RADIO PLAYS
Munda Negra (1993):
This is about the mental health struggles and psychological trauma experienced by black women living in contemporary society. It's set in the world of mainstream British theatre during the early 1990s.
Spell Number 7 (1996/1997):
A radio adaptation of Ntozake Shange's theatrical choreopoem, broadcast on Radio 3.
Who Sings the Hero - Rosa Parks (1997):
An original Afternoon Play about the American Civil Rights icon.
Bones (1998):
A drama reporting on historical slavery, directed by Claire Grove.
The Dressmaker (1999):
A post-WWII drama following a Jamaican fashion designer trying to make it in 1949 London.
The Little Prince (1999)
By Antoine de Saint-Exupery, dram. Bonnie Greer, first broadcast on Christmas Day 1999. The story follows an aviator who crashes in the Sahara Desert and meets a young interplanetary traveller from an asteroid. It stars Robert Powell, Garrett Moore and Bernard Cribbins.
Louis Armstrong (2001)
A biographical drama covering Louis's turbulent 1930s European tour.
Dorian Gray / Shakespeare's Dark Lady / Dusty Springfield (2002):
A series of short plays where authors, including BG, created dramatic encounters with cultural icons.
Marilyn and Ella Backstage at the Mocambo (2005)
A play looking at segregation in America, set in the fifties.
Passing (2006):
An adaptation of Nella Larsen's novel exploring racial passing in 1930s America, narrated by Bonnie Greer. 'Racial Passing' is the concealing of one's racial identity or ethnicity.
R4 Drama: Ferguson (2016)
Saturday Play: A psychological drama inspired by August Strindberg's The Father, looking at black rights and police shootings. Repeated in 2019. Hugh Quarshie, Clare Perkins, Tamara Lawrence, Eric Kofi Abrefa, Nabil Elouahabi, Cecilia Noble, Jason Barnett. Producer: Emma Harding. 55m. 6 Apr 19.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
Above plays known to exist in VRPCC collections
