Cumper has written a large number of plays both for the stage and radio, episodes of
Westway, short stories, and a novel,
One Bright Child, published in 1998. Cumper began writing after watching a play of which she was critical, and being challenged to do better. She wrote a play called
The Rapist, which ran for six months and won an award. She continued to write and also produced plays, winning four awards for her work, which was produced in the Caribbean, the US and Canada. She moved to Britain in 1993 to pursue her career. Cumper became a
trustee of the
British Museum in 2013. Cumper's 2017 play
Chigger Foot Boys, which pays tribute to African and Caribbean soldiers who lost their lives in the
First World War, was produced at Tara Arts to a positive reception. Paul Vale in a four-star review for
The Stage called it a "Richly textured play delivered with clarity and touchingly performed", commenting that "the perspective is wholly enlightening", and Sonia Grant wrote in the
Huffington Post: "In the dexterous hands of acclaimed playwright Patricia Cumper MBE, Chigger Foot Boys accomplished what a good theatrical production should by being bold, entertaining and enlightening. Indeed, Cumper's year and a half's research in both Britain and Jamaica shows; the play is jam-packed with little-known information on Jamaica's involvement in World War I." In 2018, Cumper,
Winsome Pinnock and Janice Okoh between them dramatised six of
Maya Angelou's autobiographical books for BBC Radio 4. The drama series was entitled
The Amazing Maya Angelou, and
Pippa Bennett-Warner and
Adjoa Andoh respectively played the author as a young adult and in later life. She is a contributor to the 2019 anthology
New Daughters of Africa, edited by
Margaret Busby. Cumper's play
The Key Game, produced in October 2002 by Talawa at London's
Riverside Studios to much acclaim, was premiered in the US at the New Perspectives Studio in
Manhattan from 17 October to 28 October 2018. ==Awards==