Lesson video

Hello, and thank you for joining me for today's lesson.

My name is Mrs. Butterworth, and I will be guiding you through your learning today.

Now, this is a very special lesson because we have the writer of "Leave Taking," Winsome Pinnock herself, talking about the context, themes, and setting of the play, and we're gonna get a real insight into some of those ideas.

So I'm really looking forward to this.

So are we ready? Great, then let's get started.

In this lesson you will use Winsome Pinnock's insights to explore and develop your understanding of the context, settings, and themes of "Leave Taking." But before we delve into the lesson, let's look at those all important key words.

Now, you may hear Winsome Pinnock using these in the video, so listen out for those, and some of them will appear throughout the lesson.

These words are hybrid, criminalized, liberated, stereotype, and subtext.

Now, hybrid is a mix of two different things.

So listen out for Winsome Pinnock talking about a hybrid culture.

Criminalized is when an action, group, or behavior is made illegal, or when someone is portrayed as criminal.

Liberated links to the idea of freedom, allowing people to do what they want or express themselves.

So very much that idea of liberation and liberated.

Stereotype is a fixed simple idea about a group of people that is often untrue or unfair.

And subtext, a very important word in this lesson, is what a character feels or means, even if they don't say it directly.

So listen out for Winsome Pinnock talking about the subtext of the play.

So the outline of our lesson looks like this.

We're going to begin by understanding context and setting with Pinnock before moving on to exploring the themes with Winsome Pinnock.

So let's get started.

So in our first video, we are going to watch Winsome Pinnock explain what the play is about.

And when we finished watching the video, you are going to list three things that Pinnock says "Leave Taking" is about, okay? So maybe be thinking about those as we watch the video.

Have you got everything you need to complete this task? Okay, great.

So I'm going to press play on the video now.

<v ->"Leave Taking" is about a woman from the Caribbean</v> who has left her home in search of what she thinks will be a better life, and who realizes that that isn't the fantasy that she'd imagined for herself and her two daughters, isn't actually quite what she expected.

And it's about also her daughters who, growing up in England, find themselves conflicted in terms of their identity, because she wants them to integrate completely.

But they have this sense that there is more to them than just being young British girls, that they have inherited a history and a culture that is important to them, as well as their identity as young English women.

And it's about the search for that.

And the way that that conflict takes these women, you know, they lose each other, and it's about them finding their way back to each other while somehow coming to find themselves within, or define themselves within this sort of conundrum, if you like, of being this conflict, of resolving this conflict, finding a way of resolving that within themselves.

And I think that ultimately they find that they can only do that by actually by going back into the past somehow, which is represented by Mai, who is an Obeah woman who's kind of a healer.

So she represents very ancient traditions, and those traditions are a sort of hybrid, like the girls are a mixture of the Caribbean and London English.

Mai's practice as a healer is a mixture of ancient African traditions and more contemporary Christian practices, I think.

And so Mai, both Mai and Enid represent that aspect of the play.

<v ->Okay, now get ready to list those three things</v> that Pinnock says "Leave Taking" is about.

Pause the video to get that done.

So let's see what three things Laura came up with.

So Laura said that "Leave Taking," "It's about Enid leaving the Caribbean for a better life and realizing it isn't what she imagined.

Number two, it's about her daughters struggling with their identity, feeling caught between being British and their Caribbean heritage.

It's about the family trying to heal and reconnect, helped by Mai who represents their cultural past and traditions." So thinking about what you got from those videos, which of the ideas Pinnock mentions do you think is the most important, and why? Pause the video to give yourself time to discuss that question.

Off you go.

So now you need to come up with an answer for this question.

So according to Pinnock, what role does Mai play in "Leave Taking?" You'll need to pause the video to come up with your answer.

So pick A, B, C, or D.

Pause the video now.

Has everybody got an answer? Okay, fantastic.

So it is B, she represents a link to the family's past and Caribbean traditions.

So in this next video, we are going to watch Winsome Pinnock discuss the setting of "Leave Taking." When we have finished, you will come back to answer the following questions.

How are Enid's and Mai's homes different, and what do they show about the characters? Why is Enid so strict with her daughters, and how does Pinnock link this to the treatment of Black youth in Britain? Okay, I'm going to press play on the video now.

<v ->The play is set in two rooms.</v> And the first, well, one of the rooms is Enid's living room in her council flat.

And I guess the reason I set it in a council flat was because I grew up in a council flat.

And also there is this exhibition called "The West Indian Living Room," which is created by Professor Michael McMillan.

And what he does, and you can look this up online, he curates an exhibition which recreates the West Indian living room.

And this was a really special room that represented, I suppose, all the aspirations of immigrants who came to the UK.

Like, it's their idea of this new world they were inhabiting, and that room was a bit like a museum.

There are certain objects in these rooms that you find replicated in many Caribbean households at that time throughout the UK.

I think you've got the sort of more liberating chaos of Mai's home as opposed to Enid's more constrained, almost uptight space.

You know, that, you know, with the way that people operate within her space, or the way that she tries to have them operate, means that they can't fully express themselves.

Where Mai's space allows for that allows you to be freer somehow.

And that's because Enid is trying to, she's trying to keep her lid on her daughters' behavior.

She wants them to conform to her idea of Britishness.

She doesn't want them to, you know, she wants them to behave, basically.

And that I think is to do with the sort of criminalization of the Black youth at the time that she doesn't want, she wants her daughters to present as, you know, very well behaved, very, you know, they're not breaking the law or anything like that.

And that's because at the time young Black people were seen as criminals, basically.

Even if they weren't, there was this criminalization of that group.

And I think she's reacting to that somehow, that, you know, if they're really impeccably behaved then they won't be carted off, you know? <v ->Wow, isn't that an interesting video?</v> I think that might be my favorite.

I loved hearing about the importance of setting, and I guess it's probably something I haven't thought about in that much depth before.

And I loved hearing about Pinnock's inspirations as well.

I just thought it was great.

So enough from me, it's over to you to answer those questions.

How are Enid and Mai's homes different, and what do they show about the characters, and why is Enid so strict with her daughters, and how does Pinnock link this to the treatment of Black youth in Britain? So pause the video to give yourself time to answer those questions.

So let's see how Izzy answered that first question.

How are Enid and Mai's homes different, and what do they show about the characters? So Izzy put this down, "Pinnock describes Enid's home as a constrained, almost uptight space, while Mai's home has the liberating chaos of her way of living.

Enid's home shows that she wants her daughters to conform and behave properly, whereas Mai's home allows freedom and self-expression.

These homes reflect the character's personalities and how they influence the girls." I love that Izzy picked out that idea of liberating chaos.

I think it's such a great way to describe Mai's home, and something I'm definitely gonna continue to think about moving forward.

So really great answer there from Izzy.

So can you add anything to Izzy's answer? So think about your own responses and pause the video and discuss that question.

So for the next question, we have Lucas's answer.

So why is Enid so strict with her daughters, and how does Pinnock link this to the treatment of Black youth in Britain? So Lucas said this, "Enid is strict with her daughters because she wants them to be impeccably behaved.

Pinnock links this to the treatment of Black youth in Britain at the time, who were often criminalized, even if they hadn't done anything wrong." I like that Lucas has used that key word there, criminalized.

And I think Pinnock really sharing her own personal experiences is such an important insight for this play, and I think it really helps us to understand the characters further.

So what did you think? Can you add anything to Lucas's answer? So pause the video to discuss that question now.

Off you go.

So now we have a true or false question.

So is this statement true or false? Pinnock states that she set Enid's home in a council flat because she grew up in one herself.

Pause the video to decide whether that statement is true or false.

We got an answer.

Are we ready? It's true.

Well done.

But now you need to explain why that statement is true.

So pause the video, and we'll share our answers in a moment.

Okay, so here is what I got down.

Hopefully you have something similar.

So Pinnock explains the personal experience.

This helped her represent the everyday lives of Caribbean immigrants and their aspirations in Britain.

The council flat setting reflects both the reality and the hopes of the community she is portraying.

So in this next video, we're going to listen to Winsome Pinnock talk about what the world was like when she wrote the play.

So this is gonna give us a real understanding of the context and the world she was writing the play in.

When we finished watching the video, I would like you to answer the following question.

In what ways does Pinnock say the time was both hopeful and difficult? So listen out for some ideas for that question.

Okay, I am going to press play on the video now.

<v ->While I was writing "Leave Taking,"</v> it felt like it was a time of change, actually.

One of the things that was really interesting was the way in which there were people like myself who were trying to create hot, you know, trying to write, the people making music.

And that music was reflecting us as young, a sort of a new kind of British person, basically.

So we were making art from both cultures.

So there's this sort of hybrid culture.

So that play, "Leave Taking," I feel I wanted to write sort of a conventional, a play that had a conventional structure, you know, a two-act play, but with a Black family in it.

You know, that was, you know, so that that was what interested me.

So yes, England was changing.

London especially was changing.

And I think that there was a sort of reaction to the racism that I'd grown up with.

For me, I felt like it was quite a hopeful time actually, because, you know, people were, it felt like there was a lot of resistance to racism and stuff, and that people were making art that reflected that.

I suppose, that we felt we had a lot of work to do in terms of carving out space.

We come from a tradition where people, if people were kept out of things, that they created their own space.

So for example, the churches, the immigrant population didn't feel that comfortable in the church.

So they had a church in the living room, and then that went into a bigger space and then that grew, you know? So I think it was, yeah, it was a time of, for us anyway, a time of great, you know, producing, of learning and growing and of becoming artists, for me and my friends, anyway.

That was what we were doing.

That's what we were trying to do.

Tough times, though.

I mean I was on the, when I was at Goldsmiths in 1980, I think it was, I was at Goldsmiths, and at the time that I was at Goldsmiths was this fire where 13 young Black people were killed while they were having a party.

And it's never been, no one knows how that fire happened.

People think it was arson.

In that area at the time, there was quite a lot of arson, you know, the Albany in Deptford was constantly being attacked by far right groups, and I think they'd attempted to burn it down a couple of times.

So when this party, when there was some, you know, there was this big fire, people thought it might be, you know, another of these attacks, but we don't know, it was never resolved.

And as a result of that, there was a big march through London, which people say was the first time that the community was mobilized and demonstrating against discrimination.

So I went on that march, 'cause I was at Goldsmiths at the time, and part of the society, you know, the Afro-Caribbean society that organized, you know, that was, you know, involved in the march.

So that's historic.

I don't think it's quite true when they say that it was the first time that the Black community had mobilized, because I think they'd also done that in the late '50s in response to the death, the racial killing of a man called Kelso Cochrane in I think it was '58, '59, after which around that time there were race riots a bit, like the ones we've seen, the anti-immigration riots, is a repetition of what happened to my parents in the late '50s.

It's just a cycle, cyclical.

So that's a sort of backdrop, or history, that contextualizes this play to some degree.

A constant cycle of racism, but resistance to that as well, you know, through art and culture.

<v ->Thank you.

</v> And now it's over to you to answer that question.

Pause the video to give yourself time to do that.

Okay, so let's look at how Aisha answered that question.

So Aisha said, "Pinnock says the time was hopeful because young Black artists were creating music, theater, and art that reflected a new, hybrid British-Caribbean culture.

And then, where the difficult part, Aisha says, "At the time it was difficult due to events like the 1988 fire and attacks on community spaces, showing the real dangers and continued discrimination the Black community faced.

I'd like you to discuss now, are there any points in the video that made you think differently, and why? Pause the video to discuss that question.

So true or false? Let's see what you remember from the video.

Pinnock says the march after the 1980 fire was the first time the Black community was mobilized in London.

Okay, so this is a bit of a tricky one, to think back to the video.

Pinnock says the march after the 1980 fire was the first time the Black community was mobilized in London.

Is that answer true or false? Pause the video to come up with your answer now.

Who thinks they've got it? Okay, well done to everyone that said it was false.

Okay, as I said, it was a bit of a sneaky one, that one, but you need to explain why it was false.

So pause the video to come up with your answer.

Okay, should we share? Okay, so the reason this was sneaky is 'cause she did say that it was considered the first time the Black community was mobilized.

However, Pinnock challenges this, because she clarifies that while it felt historic, the community had been mobilized before.

So she refers back to the 1950s and the protests then after the killing of Kelso Cochrane.

So I think, yeah, it was a bit of a sneaky one, but well done to everyone that got false, and was able to explain why.

We have reached our first practice task.

I would like you to answer the following question: what are three key ideas Pinnock mentions about the context and setting for "Leave Taking?" For each idea, I would like you to write a short summary explaining what Pinnock says about it, and write two or three questions you still have about how this idea might be explored in the play.

So think back to all of those videos we have watched, and all of those wonderful answers and discussions that you have come up with so far in the lesson.

So pause the video so you can get that task done.

Off you go.

Well done everyone, and thank you for your thoughtful ideas.

They were really great to hear.

So let's look at one of Andeep's responses.

So Andeep has come up with the idea about identity and those two cultures.

And he summarizes this by saying, "Pinnock says Enid's daughters feel torn between being British and their Caribbean heritage." And Andeep's questions are the following, "How will the daughters show they're in a conflict on stage, and how does Mai help them understand who they are?" So they're really great questions, aren't they, to think about as you explore the play further.

Now you discuss, thinking about your own ideas, can you add anything to Andeep's answer? Pause the video and get discussing.

And next we have one of Sam's responses.

So Sam came up with the idea about the meaning of home spaces.

So Sam's really focusing on the setting, and the summary is that Pinnock explains that the rooms in the play are important because they show the hopes and pressures the characters live with.

And Sam's questions are, "How will the difference between the two homes be conveyed to the reader or audience? How will the spaces reflect the character's emotions and inner conflicts?" Now over to you.

Can you add anything to Sam's answer? Pause the video to discuss that question.

In the second part of the lesson, we are going to be exploring themes with Winsome Pinnock.

So in this video, we're going to watch Winsome Pinnock discuss the characters and their experiences of living in Britain.

When you have finished watching the video, I would like you to list three things Pinnock says about how Enid and other Caribbean immigrants felt about coming to Britain.

So make sure you've got everything you need to complete the task, because I'm going to press play on the video now.

<v ->The thing to remember about a character like Enid</v> is that she has seen herself from birth as a British subject, that she was educated to, even while she was living in Jamaica, she was educated to think of herself as a British subject living in a colony of Britain, where Britain was seen very much as the mother country.

That was the word that was used, that Britain was the mother country, but that Jamaica was part of that.

So when they were invited to come to this country in the late '50s onwards well, from 1948 to about 1964, when the immigration laws then changed to stop immigration, they saw themselves as, to some extent, going home, or going to a country in which they belonged, because they were British subjects, and had a bit of a rude awakening when they arrived, because the British public hadn't been prepared for that arrival.

And you kind of think, well, things could have been so much different, even today, if that work had been done.

They used to celebrate, for example, Empire Day in the Caribbean, which was in May, I think the 21st of May, where the British government would send over flags and sweets for the kids.

And one day every year they would celebrate this Empire Day, waving their flags, their British flags, and eating their British sweets.

So they very much thought of themselves as, yeah, as I say, British subjects, which is different to a British citizen.

But that's why I think when you see those amazing pictures of people arriving on the Windrush, et cetera, they're dressed in these suits and hats because that's their idea of Britishness.

<v ->Great, thank you for listening so well.

</v> And now it's over to you to list those three things Pinnock says about how Enid and other Caribbean immigrants felt about coming to Britain.

Pause the video to get that task done.

Okay, thank you.

Should we see what three things Jacob came up with? So Jacob said that, "Enid saw herself as a British subject, even while living in Jamaica.

Immigrants thought of moving to Britain as going home, and they were surprised by how unprepared the British public was for their arrival." So now it's over to you.

Thinking about your own answers and what you heard in the videos, can you add anything to Jacob's answer? Pause the video to discuss that now.

Off you go.

Okay, so you now need to select A, B, C, or D as the answer for this question.

What event does Pinnock mention to show how Caribbean children were taught to feel connected to Britain? So what event does Pinnock mention to show how Caribbean children were taught to feel connected to Britain? So pause the video and select A, B, C, or D as your answer.

Off you go.

Has everyone got an answer? Okay, I am about to reveal it now.

Empire Day.

Okay, so she talks about Empire Day.

And then she really describes about the children, doesn't she, waving their British flags and eating their British sweets.

So we can see how this idea of Britishness really was threaded through Empire Day.

So in this next video we are going to watch Winsome Pinnock talk about why "Leave Taking" is still relevant.

When you have finished watching the video, you're going to answer this question: what does Pinnock say she wants people to think about when they read "Leave Taking?" Okay, so I am going to press play on the video now.

<v ->I think what I would want people who read the play to do</v> is to think about what's happening in the world today and to find connections in the play, and, like, how that makes you think differently about someone who is called an immigrant, because of course they're far more than an immigrant, you know, they're a complex human being.

But I think to think about how we view people, we think of as different to us, either, you know, the way they speak, the food they eat, the things like that.

And what does the play reveal about that? You know, what does it make you think about when you see this family? Because you get a little snapshot into the lives, you know, a moment in time in the lives of these characters.

And I'm interested to know what people, what would they get from that.

You know, what do they think? Yeah, what do they think of these characters? What do they learn from them? What do they learn about the condition of someone who does this? You know, does what Enid and Broad did, which is to leave their whole lives behind and start again in a different country.

You know, I'd like to know how people can think their way into those characters and come to some understanding of both their reasons for doing that and the repercussions of that on both themselves and their children and the future generations, as well as the world around them, 'cause you don't really see much of the world outside the play, but it's there.

You know, that's for people to think about for themselves, I think, you know, how everything sort of fits together, if you like, you know? <v ->Lots to think about there from that video.

</v> So pause the video so that you have time to answer the question, What does Pinnock say she wants people to think about when they read "Leave Taking?" So pause the video, and off you go.

So let's see how Jun answered that question.

So Jun has said that, "Pinnock says she wants people to think about what's happening in the world today and find connections in the play.

She wants us to think our way into the characters, and understand what it's like to leave their whole lives behind and start again in a different country." It's a really lovely answer there from Jun.

And I liked how he's taken some of Pinnock's words and ideas and presented them there and summarized them so well.

So with your own answers, and what you heard in the video, can you add anything to Jun's answer? Pause the video to discuss that question.

Off you go.

Okay, so we need to select A, B, C, or D in order to answer this question.

What does Pinnock say she is most interested in when people read the play? Pause the video to decide whether you think the answer is A, B, C, or D.

Off you go.

Okay, so hopefully we all have an answer.

It's quite a difficult question that one.

So hopefully we all got D, what they learn about the characters and how they respond to them.

I think that's a really nice idea that Pinnock is most interested in what people think about those ideas.

So in this video, Pinnock talks about what we should pay attention to in the play.

So this is a really great video to think about as we move forward and look at the play, explore the play, and really think about zooming in on some key ideas.

So once we have watched Pinnock talk about what we should pay attention to in the play, you're going to answer the following question, what does Pinnock ask you to pay attention to? So we're gonna come up with our answer to that.

So I am going to press play on the video now.

<v ->I think one thing that I, while I was writing it,</v> there's this stereotype of the older Black woman who's always nagging at her kids, and always seems angry.

And you actually still get that stereotype in plays.

I saw one the other day in fact.

And what I wanted was to see this person, see the woman behind that.

So Enid would be, I guess, an invisible character.

You know, she's a cleaner, she speaks with an accent, a Caribbean accent, a Jamaican accent.

And I wanted for her to be taken seriously.

And I think what you have to look for is what's going on underneath what people are saying.

So the subtext, what are people really saying? So there's what they say, but what they might be needing or desiring under their expression.

So they might say they want something, but what do they really want? So when Enid is telling Dell off, for example, and telling Dell to behave a certain way, what's she really saying, and what's Dell really saying to her mother? What's she really asking for? I think that's the main thing really looking out for that.

What's underneath the text? You know what isn't there necessarily? You can't see it, but it's there.

It's intentional.

You know, it's intended for you as an audience to find this meaning.

So what is it? What do you make of that? <v ->Okay, and now it's over to you to answer that question.

</v> Pause the video to get that done.

So let's see how Alex answered.

So what does Pinnock ask us to pay attention to? So Alex says that, "Pinnock asks us to pay attention to the subtext." So we've got a key word there.

"So what the characters mean, even if they don't say it directly.

She wants us to notice what the characters really want or feel, not just what they say out loud." And I think with all the information and insights that Pinnock has given us, we can really start to see the complexities of these characters, can't we? And really understand that subtext.

So I think that's a really good thing to be paying attention to as we move through the play.

So thinking back to the video, what examples does Pinnock give of how subtext works in the play? Pause the video to discuss that question now.

Okay, so true or false time.

Pinnock says she wanted Enid to be seen as more than the stereotype of an older, angry, nagging Black woman.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video to come up with your answer.

So the answer was true.

She did want Enid to be seen as more than the stereotype.

But why? Think back to the video.

So Pause the video to come up with your explanation as to why.

Okay, well done everyone.

I can hear people talking about what Pinnock was saying in the video, because she said, didn't she, that she sees this stereotype still appearing in plays, and she really wants audience to see the woman behind that and take Enid seriously.

And I think Pinnock is so successful in this when we think about "Leave Taking." Okay, so we are now at our second practice task.

So I want you to use ideas from the videos.

And the first thing you are going to do is to write a list or short statement about what you will pay attention to while exploring the play.

And then I would like you to write one question you would like to explore during the play.

Okay, so just one question that you would really like to think about, and continue to think about, whilst you explored the play.

Okay, so we're gonna need to press pause on the video so you can get that task done.

Pause the video now.

Okay, great.

I really loved hearing your questions there, and seeing your questions.

Lots of different ideas, and lots of different ways to kind of look at this play and explore it and question it.

So well done everyone.

So let's look at Sofia's answer here.

So for the first part where she needed to write a list or a short statement, this is what Sofia is going to pay attention to.

So how the daughters balance British life and Caribbean heritage, how the history and context, so thinking about things like Windrush generation, racism, immigrant experiences, affect the characters, and how Pinnock challenges stereotypes of Black women and families.

So some really fantastic ideas there that Sofia has got from the videos, that are gonna really deepen her understanding and exploration of the play.

Now think about your own answers.

Can you add anything to Sophia's answer? What else might we want to pay attention to? So pause the video to discuss that question.

Okay, so now we're going to look at those questions that you would like to explore during the play.

So we've got some Oak pupil answers here.

So first question, "How do Enid and her daughters feel about living in Britain?" "How does the play show both hope and challenges for the characters as Pinnock describes?" That's a great question, isn't it? And it really links to that context of when Pinnock was writing the play.

And, "What does the play show about the meaning of identity for young people growing up between two cultures?" Again, another great question to really think about and dig into as you are exploring the play.

Now, is there anything you could add to these questions? Pause the video to discuss your answer.

Well done everyone, and thank you so much for being so attentive, and listening so well to those videos.

It is now the end of the lesson, so let's just remind ourselves of some of those ideas that we have heard throughout.

So Pinnock explains that many Caribbean immigrants believed Britain was their mother country.

Pinnock suggests that Enid's daughters feel torn between being British and being Caribbean.

Pinnock says Enid is strict because she fears how Black youth were treated in Britain.

Pinnock says we should look underneath the character's words and notice the subtext, what they really want or feel.

And Pinnock says the play invites us to think about the world today, and make connections with the character's experience.

So again, thank you so much for your hard work.

I have really enjoyed today's lesson, and I can't wait to do it all again soon.

So I will see you then.