Review: Barber Shop Chronicles

Entering the Courtyard Theatre prior to the performance of Barber Shop Chronicles was like walking in to a fantastic party already in full swing.

All the actors were on stage – which was configured in the round – African music was pumping out of the speakers, audience members were being invited to dance or to sit in one of the barber’s chairs for a chat and a brush up. The atmosphere was intimate, joyous, warm and welcoming – and that is pretty much how the rest of the evening played out.

Inua Ellams’ brilliant play explores the safe space of the barber shop where African men gather to share stories, let off steam, discuss sport and politics, talk about women, tell jokes and seek companionship. The narrative focusses on half a dozen barber shops in London, Harare, Lagos, Johannesburg, Kampala and Accra with the action switching seamlessly between each.

The ensemble cast of twelve all give oustanding performances, playing a whole range of characters between them including a young man trying to find out the truth about his father’s imprisonment, an older South African man deeply scarred by the mistakes he has made, an earnest besuited man on his way to a job interview, a businessman estranged from his family back in Nigeria. There are common threads – the relationship between fathers and sons, a big football match between Chelsea and Barcelona, a variation on the ‘Englishman, Irishman, Scotsman’ joke featuring a fly in a drink – that tie the stories cleverly together. Not surprisingly as an accomplished poet, Ellams’ innate feeling for the rhythm of language imbues his script with an energy and lightness that enables him to deftly vary the tone. There are some heart-breaking observations here – about the harsh reality of being an immigrant, of being oppressed in your own country, of coping with skewed perceptions of black masculinity – in amongst the good-hearted humour and lively banter.

Don’t miss it.

Until July 29.