Inua Ellams

Inua Marc Mohammed Onore de Ellams II[1][2] MBE FRSL[3] (born 23 October 1984[1]) is a Nigerian-born British poet, playwright and performer. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to the arts.[4]

Inua Ellams

MBE FRSL
Born
Inua Marc Mohammed Onore de Ellams II

(1984-10-23) 23 October 1984
Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria
CitizenshipNigeria
EducationFirhouse Community College, Dublin, Ireland
Occupation(s)Poet, playwright
Known forBarber Shop Chronicles
Websitewww.inuaellams.com

Work

Ellams has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company,[5] Royal National Theatre and the BBC. In June 2018, Ellams was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature as part of its 40 Under 40 initiative.[3][6]

Poetry
  • Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars (flipped eye, 2010)

The Salt Book of Younger Poets (Salt, 2010)[7]

  • The Valley Press Anthology of Prose Poetry (Valley Press, 2018)

The 14th Tale

Ellams's one-man show The 14th Tale was awarded an Edinburgh Fringe First at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2009 and later transferred to the Royal National Theatre, London.[8]

Untitled

A one-man show staged at the Soho Theatre in 2010,[9] telling the story of twins born on Nigeria's independence day.[10]

Barber Shop Chronicles

Barber Shop Chronicles is a play set in black barber shops in six cities on one day, against the backdrop of a football match between Chelsea and Barcelona. The play explores the African diaspora in the UK,[11] masculinity, homosexuality and religion. The play was produced by the National Theatre, Fuel Theatre and Leeds Playhouse and was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award in 2017.[12] Following a period of touring, the play was also performed at the Roundhouse in 2019,[13] and a recording of the National Theatre production was streamed in May 2020 as part of the National Theatre at Home season.[14] For the production, Ellams recorded 60 hours of "male banter"[15] in barbershops all over Africa and in London at his barber Peter's shop Emmanuel's in Clapham Junction.[15] This project originally did not secure funding.[16]

The Half God of Rainfall

In April 2019 his new play, The Half God of Rainfall, was presented at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre,[17] in advance of its run at London's Kiln Theatre, as well as its publication as a book.[18]

Three Sisters

In December 2019–February 2020 Ellams's reworking of Chekhov's play Three Sisters was performed at the Royal National Theatre, London.[19] The play restaged the story in the 1960s in the midst of the Biafran war in Nigeria.[20]

An Evening with an Immigrant

In 2020 Ellams performed a live stage programme with anecdotes of his childhood and his experiences as a refugee. An excerpt was shown at the Hay Festival on 24 May 2020.[8]

Awards

References
  1. "inuaellamsCV copy" (PDF). InuaEllams.com. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  2. "Inua Ellams". Inua Ellams. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  3. "Royal Society of Literature >> Inua Ellams". The Royal Society of Literature. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  4. "No. 64082". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2023. p. B18.
  5. "'The first time I read Shakespeare's The Tempest, I got angry.'". BBC World Service - The Cultural Frontline. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  6. "The RSL elects 40 new Fellows under the age of 40". The Royal Society of Literature. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  7. "Inua Ellams – Poetry Spotlight". Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  8. Delia Jarrett-Macauley (2018). "Inua Ellams - Literature". British Council - Literature. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  9. skill issue (2010). "Theatre review: Untitled at Soho Theatre". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  10. Lyn Gardner (5 October 2010). "Untitled - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  11. Kirsty Lang (23 November 2017). "BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Inua Ellams on Barber Shop Chronicles, Battle of the Sexes, Charles Causley, Godless". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  12. "2017 Awards - Alfred Fagon Award". Alfred Fagon Award. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  13. Miriam Gillinson (26 July 2019). "Barber Shop Chronicles review – hair-raising ebullience". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  14. Arifa Akbar (13 May 2020). "Inua Ellams: 'Barber shops are a safe, sacred place for British black men' (Interview)". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  15. Susannah Butter (23 July 2019). "Inua Ellams interview: 'Men think they have to be tougher to downplay the frailties they feel' (Interview)". Evening Standard - GoLondon. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  16. wildness (October 2017). "An Interview with Inua Ellams (Interview)". wildness. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  17. "The Half God of Rainfall - Birmingham". Birmingham Repertory Theatre. April 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  18. Claire Armitstead (22 April 2019). "Inua Ellams: 'In the UK, black men were thought of as animalistic'". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  19. Alice Saville (11 December 2019). "'Three Sisters' review". Time Out - London. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  20. Andrew Dickson (22 March 2020). "Playwright Inua Ellams on poetry, basketball and the Nigerian melodrama of Chekhov". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  21. Catherine Love (16 March 2017). "Inua Ellams: 'I'm bracing myself for a showdown with UKIP'". The Stage. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  22. "The Break - five original short monologues". BBC Writersroom. BBC. 2 November 2015.
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