Lenny Henry, the comedian and actor of Jamaican parents, is to make his debut as a playwright with a new work about the problems facing Caribbean immigrants returning to their homeland, Roya Nikkah reports for London’s Telegraph.

Corrinne Come Back and Gone will tell the story of Corrinne Jackson, a 65-year-old Jamaican immigrant living in Wolverhampton, who returns to Jamaica after 20 years to visit the children she left behind with her abusive husband.

The play will explore the issues surrounding “the returnee” and how the places and people they return to are often changed beyond recognition – instead of the joyful homecoming she expects, Corrinne receives a frosty reception from her children and fellow Jamaicans.

Henry, 52, the son of Jamaican immigrants who grew up in Dudley, Worcs, found inspiration for the play in his late aunt, Pearl Harris, who left Jamaica for the West Midlands in the 1950s along with Henry’s parents, leaving behind her children.

After arriving in Dudley, Henry’s aunt worked at a catering factory while his mother, Winnie, found work as a seamstress and factory worker and his father, Winston, worked in a foundry.

Henry was close to his aunt, who died several years ago, and has credited her with encouraging him to read widely as a young boy by enrolling him at the local library in Dudley.

Like the lead character in his play, Henry’s aunt hoped she would be able to make her fortune in Britain and later send for her children.

Henry said: “My family was very poor in Jamaica, and Auntie Pearl left for Britain to have a better life, with the promise that when she got enough money, she would send for the children, but she never did.

“When she went back to Jamaica, she’d been gone for 30 years and it wasn’t like she thought it was going to be at all. People were vexed that England hadn’t made her a millionaire and the reception she got was “where have you been and where’s the money?”

“She went back and was reminded that she’d left all the kids behind to be taken care of by the husband, and they weren’t that happy. But she made it alright in the end, though it took a long time.

“A lot of people return to the Caribbean thinking it’s one thing when usually it’s very much changed into another and the play is all about what you leave behind and what happens when you’re re-acquainted with that.”

The play, which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 next month, will recount how Corrinne moved to the Midlands to live with her sister in the hope of a better life, imagining the streets would be “paved with gold”.

Corrinne hopes that she will make enough money in England to bring her children over from Jamaica, but in fact struggles to survive and loses contact with her family in her homeland.

When Corrinne, who has been working as a carer for the elderly, returns to Jamaica 20 years later, she finds her three daughters, Bridie, Ruth and Simone are all deeply troubled with Ruth in prison and weighing over 30 stone and Simone emotionally unstable and locked in an adulterous relationship.

Henry added: “It’s not just about a woman who left Jamaica – it’s quite a dark story, involving physical and sexual abuse, witchcraft and a touch of magical realism, but it is funny too.”

The cast will be led by the actress Claire Benedict as Corrinne, with Nadine Marshall, Clare Perkins and Petra Letang playing her three daughters.

Henry, who was last year divorced from the comedienne Dawn French after 25 years of marriage, is best known for his BBC comedy television series The Lenny Henry Show and as one of the founders of the Comic Relief charity.

To prepare for his first play, he recently completed an MA with distinction in screenwriting from Royal Holloway college at the University of London.

In 2008, he made a critically acclaimed debut as a stage actor playing Othello at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, which later transferred to London’s West End.

Corrinne Come Back and Gone will be broadcast on Radio 4 on May 30.

For the original report go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8440124/Lenny-Henry-pens-his-first-play.html