Fringe First winner Inua Ellams put on a powerful solo performance as he combined theatre, poetry and visual art to tell his entrancing story.
Born in Nigeria in 1984, Ellams’ self-penned work tells the life story of two Nigerian brothers. Christian Mathew is fostered into Muhammed’s Muslim family and the two soon become inseparable. Black T-Shirt Collection chronicles the brothers’ lives as they build a global T-shirt business from humble beginnings to a tragic end, as both brothers meet untimely deaths, one in a gruesome accident in their Chinese sweatshop and the other by suicide.
From the outset Ellams’ words drew you in with their strong imagery and touching sensitivity, from the carefree moment in childhood when the boys “sat beneath the mango tree and ate every fruit that fell”, to later tragic events, including the discovery of Muhammed’s forbidden homosexuality when he realises he has to leave Nigeria or “They’ll kill me, they’ll burn the house down,” and Muhammed’s tempered fury with his brother when “the sky, infinite as ever, humbled his anger at Mathew”.
Ellams entwines the personal and political as his story entices us to join the brothers on their journey from Nigeria to China, via Egypt and England. His faultless 75-minute act displayed insight and humanity through beautiful simplicity. Only basic images and sound effects were employed to tease the senses, such as the sound of Mathew’s sewing machine, the aeroplane and the street music of Cairo.
Ellams is a wondrous spoken-word talent to watch.
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