Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh receives Inua Ellams’ (Fringe First-winner The 14th Tale, The Long Song Goodbye, Fastcuts and Snapshot, Marsh Orchids & Concrete, Reset Everything, An Evening with an Immigrant, Turned) critically celebrated play Barber Shop Chronicles, following two sold out runs at the National Theatre, acclaimed performances at West Yorkshire Playhouse (now Leeds Playhouse), hugely successful tours of Australia, New Zealand, America and Canada.
Newsroom, political platform, local hot-spot, confession box, preacher-pulpit and football stadium – for generations, African men have gathered in barber shops to discuss the world.
This dynamic play journeys from a barber shop in London, to Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Accra. These are places where the banter can be barbed and the truth is always telling.
The production is directed by Olivier Award-winning Bijan Sheibani (Our Class, The Kitchen, Emil and the Detectives, A Taste of Honey, Romeo and Juliet, all National Theatre; The House of Bernarda Alba, Almeida; Moonlight, Donmar Warehouse; Eurydice, Young Vic; Ghosts, Arcola; Olivier Award-winning Gone Too Far!, Royal Court, Hackney Empire, Albany and ATC), designed by Rae Smith, with lighting design by Jack Knowles, movement direction by Aline David and sound design by Gareth Fry.
Speaking of the production, writer Inua Ellams said:
My journey as a theatre maker began with a Fringe First in Scotland in 2009, with my first play The 14th Tale, which later transferred to the National Theatre. In the play, I first shared the themes of fatherhood, migration and globalisation which were further explored in the Barber Shop Chronicles. It feels somewhat fated now that it is, transferring from the National to Scotland, and I’m excited to see how Scottish audiences will respond to the broadening of a conversation I started with them 10 years ago.