Black performance in Britain has a long history, dating back hundreds of years. Henry VIII employed a 'blacke trumpet' who appears in the painted roll of the Westminster Tournament of 1511. Black performers appeared in pageants in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and feature in engravings by William Hogarth. Victorian music hall created its own stereotypes, but as more Black people came to Britain, the need to find an outlet for their own cultural expression became more urgent.

The first Black actor to achieve major recognition was Ira Aldridge (1804-1867), an African-American, who won acclaim throughout Europe as 'The African Roscius' playing Othello and many other great Shakespearean roles. A hundred years later, another great African-American was acclaimed on the British stage: Paul Robeson singing Ol' Man River in Showboat and playing Othello in 1930. But the achievements and successes of African-American performers and shows have tended to obscure attention from work in Britain of African-Caribbean origin and the achievements of African-Caribbean writers, actors and directors.

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