Poet and playwright Inua Ellams was born in Nigeria in 1984 and moved to London with his family as a child. In 2009 his debut play, The 14th Tale, won a Fringe First at the Edinburgh festival. His latest play, The Half God of Rainfall, set between south-west Nigeria and Mount Olympus, opened earlier this year. In 2018, Ellams was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. After two sell-out runs at the National Theatre in London and a world tour, his hit 2017 play, Barber Shop Chronicles, is at the Roundhouse, London, until 24 August.
1. Play
Equus at Trafalgar Studios, London
I saw this the other week and it was phenomenal. It was written in the 1970s by Peter Shaffer and tells the story of a young man who attacks six horses. I read into it a deep comment about performances of masculinity and the pressures for men to perform sexually and the failings of that. It was a beautiful adaptation: the dancers morph into horses. I’ve never seen anything like it on the stage before. The set, the performances, the actors – it was electrifying.
2. YouTube
Chillhop Music
Normally when I write I need dead silence – anything else crashes in my head. But I’ve been immersing myself in this: they play laid-back hip-hop instrumentals and I just have it looping in the background. It’s almost meditative. It’s mellow, with lots of samples: the drums aren’t too hard, the beat isn’t too hard. It’s sort of like taking a nice jog: when you get into the rhythm of running, it helps you process things. This does that to my mental space: it structures my thoughts, it gives me a safe tapestry to think on top of.
3. Album
Dave - Psychodrama
I was late to discovering Dave, but this album is magnificent and understated. For a rapper – who are bastions of black masculinity – to structure an album around interviews with his therapist was so exposing, honest and true. Dave’s an incredible lyricist and thinker, and the album shines in his brilliance. The fact that his song Black became a Radio 1 hit shows England is now willing to have conversations with itself about racism and the legacy of colonisation, which we weren’t able to have three, five years ago. British citizens are braver than the politicians think we are.
4. Script
seven methods of killing kylie jenner
I saw the play, but I think people should buy the script and read it like you would a short story. I’ve never seen a script look like this, ever. The book is divided into TL, which stands for timeline, and IRL – in real life. Half of the play happens on Twitter, and in the script they have the memes printed out and it looks like a Twitter thread. It’s one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen. It was written by Jasmine Lee-Jones and it’s a work of art: subversive, funny, illustrative, powerful and witty as hell.
5. TV
Years and Years
Oh God, it was perfect: a blend of science fiction, fantasy and political awareness. All the characters were complex as hell and flawed and incredible. I saw a lot of Afrofuturist ground – writers such as Octavia Butler and Nnedi Okorafor – covered in the depiction of the girl who was trying to become half AI. I have three sisters, so I’m always looking for positive depictions of powerful black women. I found the series prophetic: it spoke so much about what’s happening in America right now. I binge-watched the entire thing on BBC iPlayer in one day – I only stirred to use the toilet.
6. Place
Deptford, London
I only moved there last September, but it’s lovely. In my block of flats we all moved in roughly at the same time, so we set up a WhatsApp group and we often have coffee and cake. It’s nice knowing my neighbours and feeling we’re invested in each other’s happiness. We can get into the heart of London very quickly, but it’s far enough that it can be quiet, peaceful and very chilled. There’s a great park you can run around and Deptford market is awesome. I am sort of part of the gentrifiers, but I think we’re still maintaining the cultural vibrancy of the area.
