[1] It was founded by Bernardine Evaristo, Patricia Hilaire and Paulette Randall upon leaving the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, where they had trained as actors and theatre-makers on the Community Theatre Arts course from 1979 to 1982.
[2][3][4] The course was a progressive, innovative drama course aimed at producing individuals who would be equipped to create their own theatre and be a force for change in society.
Their first three short one-woman plays were initially staged at the Royal Court Theatre as part of their Young Writers Season in 1982.
In addition to producing theatre, the company ran drama workshops for young black women nationally and in Europe.
In Spare Rib magazine 138, Maxine stated that during Silhouette, "on a Spartan stage the two women resurrect from silence and invisibility some of the history and experiences unique to the lives of Black women... An evocative language of poetry is used by the characters to explore the many subjects, which in different ways permeate both their lives" (January 1984).