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Theatre review:
The 14th Tale, Inua Ellams, Cottesloe, National Theatre
Words: Victoria Woode
Inua Ellams has been described as a word and graphic artist due to his love for visual arts and a passion for writing. In The 14th Tale, Inua, shares his life story with an audience of individuals eager to observe his modern day monologue in action.
He started by sharing his experiences of his time in Nigeria, where he was born and partially bred. The scene opens with him sitting alone anxiously in isolation; he is waiting in what we discover to be a hospital waiting room. We wonder to ourselves why? But all is made clear throughout the duration of the play.
"I'm from a long line of trouble makers. A line of ash skinned Africans, born with clenched fists and a natural thirst for battle.' Inua shows how he has always been a mischievous fellow as he takes the audience through various chapters of his life, including- terrorising lizards, separation from his best friend and avoiding beatings from the school bully.
Throughout the one man show we see that as a youth Inua enjoyed extracting revenge on those who had hurt him whether this is by squeezing toothpaste all over his enemy or pouring red paint into the shower head at the home of his ex-girlfriend.
The story follows Inua as he goes through twists and turns of boyhood as well his feelings towards migration. At age 12 Inua is uprooted from the only country he has ever known as his family make way to start a new life in London.
The cultural differences are captured wonderfully. The use of accents and mannerisms allowed Inua to play umpteen characters.
The whole performance was mesmerising. Towards the end of the play Inua comes to terms with who he is as he successfully completes the journey from boyhood to manhood. The 14th Tale is worth seeing as Inua’s journey is a capturing and eye-opening experience.
Until 13 Mar
The 14th Tale
Written and performed by Inua Ellams, The 14th Tale is a free-flowing narrative that tells the hilarious exploits of a natural born mischief growing from the clay streets of Nigeria to rooftops in Dublin, and finally to London. Inua Ellams vividly recreates the characters that punctuate his upbringing in deft and beautiful poetry, while challenging the audience’s expectations of what it is to be a young, black male in London today.
Inua Ellams was born in Nigeria in 1984 and moved to the UK as a teenager. His work merges visual art, spoken word and theatre. He has performed in a wide variety of venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Tate Modern, The Albany, The Drum, Theatre Royal Stratford, Glastonbury and Latitude. He is working on a second collection of poems, following the publication of his first, Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales.
Time: 8pm
Venue: Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1
Info: www.nationaltheatre.org.uk
The 14th Tale, Inua Ellams, Cottesloe, National Theatre
Words: Victoria Woode
Inua Ellams has been described as a word and graphic artist due to his love for visual arts and a passion for writing. In The 14th Tale, Inua, shares his life story with an audience of individuals eager to observe his modern day monologue in action.
He started by sharing his experiences of his time in Nigeria, where he was born and partially bred. The scene opens with him sitting alone anxiously in isolation; he is waiting in what we discover to be a hospital waiting room. We wonder to ourselves why? But all is made clear throughout the duration of the play.
"I'm from a long line of trouble makers. A line of ash skinned Africans, born with clenched fists and a natural thirst for battle.' Inua shows how he has always been a mischievous fellow as he takes the audience through various chapters of his life, including- terrorising lizards, separation from his best friend and avoiding beatings from the school bully.
Throughout the one man show we see that as a youth Inua enjoyed extracting revenge on those who had hurt him whether this is by squeezing toothpaste all over his enemy or pouring red paint into the shower head at the home of his ex-girlfriend.
The story follows Inua as he goes through twists and turns of boyhood as well his feelings towards migration. At age 12 Inua is uprooted from the only country he has ever known as his family make way to start a new life in London.
The cultural differences are captured wonderfully. The use of accents and mannerisms allowed Inua to play umpteen characters.
The whole performance was mesmerising. Towards the end of the play Inua comes to terms with who he is as he successfully completes the journey from boyhood to manhood. The 14th Tale is worth seeing as Inua’s journey is a capturing and eye-opening experience.
Until 13 Mar
The 14th Tale
Written and performed by Inua Ellams, The 14th Tale is a free-flowing narrative that tells the hilarious exploits of a natural born mischief growing from the clay streets of Nigeria to rooftops in Dublin, and finally to London. Inua Ellams vividly recreates the characters that punctuate his upbringing in deft and beautiful poetry, while challenging the audience’s expectations of what it is to be a young, black male in London today.
Inua Ellams was born in Nigeria in 1984 and moved to the UK as a teenager. His work merges visual art, spoken word and theatre. He has performed in a wide variety of venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Tate Modern, The Albany, The Drum, Theatre Royal Stratford, Glastonbury and Latitude. He is working on a second collection of poems, following the publication of his first, Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales.
Time: 8pm
Venue: Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1
Info: www.nationaltheatre.org.uk