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From “the godmother of Black British playwrights” (The Guardian), Leave Taking was written by Winsome Pinnock and was first produced in 1987 at Liverpool Playhouse. The play won Winsome Pinnock the George Devine Award in 1991.

Winsome Pinnock's play Leave Taking is an epic story of what we leave behind in order to find home.

In North London, Del and Viv are soul-sick. Del doesn’t want to be at home; staying out late – 3 pm-the-next-day late – is more her thing. 

Viv scours her schoolbooks trying to find a trace of herself between their lines. 

When Enid takes her daughters to the local obeah woman for some traditional Caribbean soul-healing, secrets are spilled. There’s no turning back for Del, Viv and Enid as they negotiate the frictions between their countries and cultures. 

'There are few plays in British theatre that speak so directly, resonantly and truthfully to the experience of the black woman. Winsome Pinnock's first full-length play does this with such profound eloquence – it is rousing to watch… Leave Taking is timely in its politics, yet timeless in its themes'

The Stage

Resources

Age: Key Stage 4

Subject: English Literature

Novel: Leave Taking

Author: Winsome Pinnock

The activities in this resource pack gives teachers and students in KS4 classes, who are studying Leave Taking, the opportunity to engage with a play, developing their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. The pack includes activities framed as lessons on comprehension, extract analysis and creative writing. The activities are designed to be used alongside the videos of playwright Winsome Pinnock. 

Additionally, there is a more general resource with top tips for building confidence in teaching texts by authors of colour, inviting teachers to consider and reflect before, during and after teaching this text.  

What's included in the resource pack?

Pre-discussion reflection
Lesson plan outline  
5 lesson slides
5 worksheets
1 factsheets

How to use the resource pack

Please note that these Leave Taking teaching resources have been split into the following lessons:

Lesson 1 – Womanhood  
Lesson 2 – Pinnock’s Influences  
Lesson 3 – Who is Mai?  
Lesson 4 – Assimilation 
Lesson 5 – Parent-Child Relationships

Download the resource pack, which includes the lesson slides and all accompanying documents.
Review all material in the resource pack and the corresponding videos, which can be found below on this webpage as well as embedded into the PowerPoint presentations.
Take your students through the activities and watch the corresponding videos with the author.
Use the worksheets and text extracts to support the activities.

Download the resource pack

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