Pearl Priscilla Prescod was a Tobagonian actress and singer. She was one of the earliest Caribbean entertainers to appear on British television and was the first Black woman to appear at London's National Theatre. Prescod arrived in Britain in the early 1950s and resided in Notting Hill, London. During her time in Britain, she was cast in numerous television roles and theatre productions, and was active in the anti-racism struggle in London in the late 1950s and early '60s. With her close friend, journalist and activist Claudia Jones, Prescod helped co-ordinate London's first "Caribbean Carnival" event, which took place in St Pancras Town Hall in January 1959, and is considered a precursor of the Notting Hill Carnival.
Career
Pearl Prescod was a trained classical singer and had aspirations to pursue a classical musiceducation in England. She arrived in Britain in the early 1950s after winning a musical scholarship to Guildhall School of Music. In 1954, Prescod was cast in Barry Reckord's first play Flesh to a Tiger. The play also starred Cleo Laine, Nadia Cattouse and Lloyd Reckord. In 1955, the secretary of the West India Committee in London helped Prescod secure a job as a switchboard operator in his office and an audition at the BBC. She successfully procured a number of BBC contracts and landed many television roles and plays over the years. Prescod was part of a West Indian singing group called The New World Singers and was the leader of the sopranos in the choir. The others were Patricia Williams, Bonica Fletcher and Joyce Jacobs. Impressed with hearing a group of West Indian singers, conductor and composer Avril Coleridge-Taylor formed the choir. In 1959 Sylvia Wynter's play Under The Sun was re-broadcast by the BBC. Prescod had a part in the play, along with Nadia Cattouse, Andrew Salkey, Sheila Clarke, Gordon Woolford and Sylvia Wynter.. During her stage career, Prescod was a member of the National Theatre Company and was cast as Tituba in the 1965 production of The Crucible''. She received wide praise for her performance.
Activism
Prescod's contributions to the struggle for racial equality in Britain was recognised. She played an active role alongside Claudia Jones, and was involved in organising the March on Washington solidarity demonstration in London on 31 August 1963. Prescod was among the Black artistes in England who supported Claudia Jones's appeals for funds for the West Indian Gazette by organising and performing at fundraising concerts. When Jones died in 1964, Prescod sung "Lift Up Your Voice and Sing" at the funeral.
Prescod is the subject of a chapter written by Obi B. Egbuna, the Nigerian-born novelist, playwright and political activist, in his non-ficton work titled Black Candle at Christmas.
