Men’s play a cut above the rest
Review
Barber Shop Chronicles; by Inua Ellams, directed by Bijan Sheibani
TSB Arena, until March 18 Reviewed by Ewen Coleman
While the idea of using a hair salon as a setting to bring together a group of disparate women to chat, discuss and argue has been well used in such TV shows as Coronation Street and films like Steel Magnolias, it’s rare to have seen the same with a men’s barber shop.
Yet that is exactly what African playwright Inua Ellams has done with his highly successful Barber Shop Chronicles.
Going to his local barber in Peckham, South London, then travelling through African cities visiting barber shops there, Ellams has amassed loads of conversations from these environments.
He observed how the African men came together to use the barber shop as a confessional booth, political platform and a venue to discuss the latest sports fixtures while they joked and generally engaged in light-hearted banter.
The result is a distillation of Ellams’ experiences into a fascinating play that gives much insight into the lives of the men – spanning a wide range of age and types – he encountered.
Alternating between barber shops in Lagos, Johannesburg, Harare, Accra and Kampala and in South London in between, the play initially appears to be a series of separate episodes. Yet, slowly, strands connect each one. By the end, a wonderful picture of these characters and their lives emerges.
There’s ongoing banter about a Chelsea-Barcelona soccer match – followed in both South London and Africa – a joke about a fly in a drink, then heated debate about the evolution of pidgin English and why Winnie Mandela should have taken over after her husband died, alongside many other topics.
This all takes place on a simple but very effective set that highlights where each scene is taking place using a large, illuminated wire map and barber shop posters.
On this platform, the incredibly energetic cast members rush about on caster chairs and dance while waving barber’s capes, setting up each scene and taking on one character after another – each dressed differently in a highly colourful array of garments.
The actors do all this with ease, creating the emotions and tensions, coupled with the fun and sleek repartee that these situations lend themselves to.
And, while the tenuous connections of the men’s stories weave a thread through the play, it is the way the characters interact with one another and how the actors bring this all so much to life that makes this production uniquely special.
One not to be missed.