At the Gates of Gaza

The 2009 winner of the Best Play Award at the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award (Birmingham Rep and UK tour '08), published for the first time to coincide with the author's new play Upper Cut. Stranded in the battlefields of the Holy Land during the Great War, a battalion of West Indian volunteers fight for the Empire, the King and the Mother Land. Their long search for identity and honour falls apart as the fragile hopes of young lives, both black and white, explode and shatter as betrayal and race take their toll. At the Gates of Gaza is a highly charged, emotional and gripping look at a world in the midst of change. 'Those blessed with a strong social conscience should hurry along to see this remarkable new play, which delivers with unerring accuracy a short sharp kick in the guts.' - The Stage 'If the play's underlying message is one of patriotism betrayed by racism, the overriding impression is more of warmth than wrath... the cast endow these forgotten heroes with personality and martial dignity... this could hardly be a more timely reminder of former valour.' - Telegraph