Royal
Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Four
stars
Men-only
clubs can cover a multitude of sins. By setting his play in an international
network of African-run barbershops, however, Inua Ellams taps into a world that
is both intimate and social enough to foster a set of exchanges that may begin
with the international language of football, but broadens out to question
exactly what it means to be a man of colour in a white world.
Bijan
Sheibani’s production makes a joyful song and dance of all this in a busy,
bright and brash production that moves between six shops, one in London and
five in different African countries. It’s April 2012, and Chelsea are about to
hammer Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final. This event ramps up an
already highly charged network of men and boys in need of a pre-match trim and
all the cross-generational cut and thrust that goes with it.
These
include the sort of conversations that go beyond matters of life and death in the
game itself. In Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, Ghana and beyond, emotive universal
debates on sexuality, women, the use of the N-word, pidgin English and
such-like become localised, so every street-corner incident becomes epic.
Everyday
dramas, meanwhile, become similarly intensified by the close proximity of those
involved. The effect is akin to something whipped up by a rap-sired Damon
Runyon, with each punch-packing yarn delivered with a baroque swagger that fronts a community more
vulnerable and less sure of themselves than they like to let on.
Now out
on tour with a new cast following a run at the National Theatre in
co-production with Fuel and Leeds Playhouse, Sheibani’s production is fused with
an effervescent energy from its cast of twelve, who double up with abandon as
they move through time-zones on Rae Smith’s magnificently cluttered set.
Mohammed Mansaray brings a determined humility to Samuel, who eventually
squares up Anthony Ofoegbu’s hang-dog proprietor Emmanuel. The result is as
sharp as a buzz-cut in a show that’s something for the weekend and a whole lot
more.
The Herald, October 24th 2019
ends
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