Yasmin Joseph

Yasmin Joseph is a British-Caribbean playwright and screenwriter. She is best known for her debut play J'Ouvert, which premiered at the fringe venue Theatre503 in 2019, before moving to the West End.

Early life and education Yasmin Joseph was born and raised in Camden, North London. She is of Caribbean heritage, with a Dominican-Jamaican mother and a Vincentian father.

Career Before becoming a playwright, Joseph worked in a variety of roles in the theatre sector. In 2015, she interned at New York Theatre Workshop in audience outreach and engagement. was longlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award in 2015. Having previously worked as resident assistant producer at Theatre503, Joseph applied and was selected for the theatre's 503Five scheme, becoming one of its resident writers in 2017.

Joseph's debut play, J'Ouvert, was developed during this residency and subsequently premiered at Theatre503 in 2019. J'ouvert was inspired by her childhood experiences, when her family was actively involved in creating carnival floats and taking part in the costume parade every summer. It was described by writer and educator Nicole-Rachelle Moore as an "educative and emotionally immersive piece of theatre".

Joseph has written for the Royal Court Theatre (as a winner of the Channel 4 Playwrights scheme), Soho Theatre, the Actors Touring Company, and Clean Break.

Joseph is an alumnus of Sister Pictures' writer-in-residence scheme. She has worked on writing screenplays, developing projects for Sister Pictures, and was a co-writer on the period drama series A Thousand Blows (released 2025 on Hulu and Disney +).

In 2022, Joseph contributed a poem, Who Said Summer Was Fun!, for the anthology Joyful Joyful: Stories Celebrating Black Voices, edited by Dapo Adeola and published by Pan MacMillan.

She is based in London. Included in Routledge's anthology entitled Short Plays with Great Roles for Women (2020) The Place of Shining Light 2017 - Theatre503 (Part of the "Sahar Speaks: Voices of Women from Afghanistan" programme) 2018 Sugar 2018 - Kiln Theatre Part of Mapping Brent Festival 2019 J'ouvert 2019 - Theatre5032021 - Harold Pinter Theatre Joseph's West End debut 2021 First Winter 2021 - Online reading performed by members of the Retired Caribbean Nurses’ Association, Bedford. Produced in partnership with The Place Theatre Bedford, The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, and University of Bedfordshire 2025 Citizens of Umi Unproduced Shortlisted for George Devine Award

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Recognition and awards