Award-winning poet and playwright Inua Ellams (Barber Shop Chronicles, The Half-God of Rainfall) brings his audience-led poetry event to the Donmar Warehouse.
Pick a word, any word. Prompted by audience suggestions, Inua Ellams will search through his extensive archive of work and perform a reactive and spontaneous selection. Each show is unique and special.
Inua Ellams’ first play, The 14th Tale, debuted at Arcola in 2010 and later transferred to the National Theatre; his KnightWatch: SouthS’tory was also produced here in 2012. Barber Shop Chronicles has played two sell-out runs at the National Theatre and a world tour. Across his work, Inua mixes the old with the new: traditional African storytelling with contemporary poetry, pencil with pixel, texture with vector images, with an emphasis on themes of identity, displacement and destiny.
Inua Ellams (Writer and Performer)
Born in Nigeria, Inua Ellams is a poet, playwright & performer, graphic artist & designer. He is a Complete Works poet alumni and facilitates workshops in creative writing where he explores reoccurring themes in his work – Identity, Displacement and Destiny – in accessible, enjoyable ways for participants of all ages and backgrounds.
His awards include Edinburgh Fringe First Award 2009, The Liberty Human Rights Award, The Live Canon International Poetry Prize, The Kent & Sussex Poetry Competition, Magma Poetry Competition, Winchester Poetry Prize, A Black British Theatre Award and The Hay Festival Medal for Poetry.
He has been commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Tate Modern, Louis Vuitton, BBC Radio & Television. His poetry books include Candy Coated Unicorn and Converse All Stars published by Flipped Eye, The Wire-Headed Heathen by Akashic Books, The Half God of Rainfall by 4th Estate and The Actual by Penned in The Margins. His plays include Black T-shirt Collection, The 14th Tale, Barber Shop Chronicles and Three Sisters published by Oberon. He founded The Midnight Run (an arts-filled, night-time, urban walking experience) The Rhythm and Poetry Party (The R.A.P Party) which celebrates poetry & hip hop, and Poetry + Film / Hack (P+F/H) which celebrates Poetry & Film.
