Barber Shop Chronicles −

Learning Guide

About This Guide ...............................................................1

Background Information ..................................................2
Teaching Information ........................................................3
Production Notes
Contextual Information .............................................4
Key Design Elements ................................................5
Key Moments .............................................................9
Plot Synopsis with Timecodes........................................11
Find Out More ..................................................................23

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Barber Shop Chronicles − Learning Guide

About

This learning guide supports Fuel & Leeds

Playhouse’s production of Barber Shop
Chronicles, directed by Bijan Sheibani,
which opened on 20th November 2017 at
the National’s Dorfman Theatre in London.

Our packs are designed to support viewing

the recording on the National Theatre
Collection. This pack provides links to the
UK school curriculum and other
productions in the Collection. It also has a
plot synopsis with timecodes to allow you
to jump to specific sections of the play.

Here you’ll also find all the information you

need to enable you to study the
production and write about it in detail.
This includes notes about all of the key
elements from performance style to
design. You’ll also find pointers for further
research.

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Barber Shop Chronicles − Learning Guide

Background Information
Recording Date – 20th June, 2017
Location – Dorfman Theatre, National Theatre
Age Recommendation – 14+ (strong and racially offensive language)

Cast
Samuel ........................................................Fisayo Akinade
Wallace / Timothy /
Mohammed / Tinashe .................. Hammed Animanshaun
Kwabena / Brian /
Fabrice / Olawale .........................................Peter Bankole
Musa / Andile / Mensah ...........................Maynard Eziashi
Tanaka / Fiifi .......................................... Simon Manyonda
Tokunbo / Paul / Simphiwe .................Patrice Naiambana
Emmanuel ............................................................ Cyril I Nri
Ethan ........................................................... Kwami Odoom
Elnathan / Benjamin / Dwain .............................Sule Rimi
Kwame / Simon / Wole .....................................Abdul Salis
Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin ................. Geoffrey Streatfeild
Abram / Ohene / Sizwe ................................David Webber
Winston / Shoni .......................................... Anthony Welsh

Creative Team
Director ........................................................Bijan Sheibani
Writer ................................................................ Inua Ellams
Set and Costume Designer ...............................Rae Smith
Lighting Designer .........................................Jack Knowles
Movement Director ......................................... Aline David
Sound Designer .................................................Gareth Fry
Music Director ............................................. Michael Henry
Fight Director ................................................Kev McCurdy

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Teaching Information

This production is particularly suitable for:

• Drama and theatre students who are interested in vibrant

contemporary theatre.

• Anyone with an interest in the work of Inua Ellams.

• Drama and theatre students who are studying Rae Smith as
a contemporary theatre practitioner.

In particular you might like to explore:

• How the action of the play moves with ease between a series of
different barber shops all around the world and how the director,
musical director, designers and actors work together to achieve
this.
• The use of multi-rolling in the production and how the actors
create a range of different characters.

• The relationship between the performers and the audience in this

production and how the two interact with one another throughout
the performance.

• Inua Ellams’ decision to explore the themes of race and identity

through the shared experiences of men in barber shops across the
world.

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Barber Shop Chronicles − Learning Guide

Production Notes

The following notes have been compiled to help guide you through the significant
design and performance aspects as you watch the production, or to remind you of
them after you have watched it. You may also want to make your own notes and
form your own opinions on the effectiveness of these aspects as you explore the
production.

Contextual Information

• Inua Ellams has chosen the barber shop location as a specific place where
African men gather to exchange news, ideas, opinions, information and
advice. He has spoken in numerous interviews about the play, and highlights
the differences for Black British and/or American men who may not have such
a safe environment in which to gather without being treated with suspicion.
Ellams has also made deliberate connections between the different
communities – note the use and adaptation of the same joke, for example,
which makes an important statement about people’s similarities rather than
simply highlighting differences.

• Inua Ellams toured the different African locations that are depicted in the play.
You can read one of his blog posts about it here.

• To support your study of the play, you might also like to use this NT guide,
which was created for National Theatre at Home in 2020 and features
contextual information taken from the programme for the production.

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Production Notes

Key Design Elements: Set

• The production is performed in the round. The audience are seated in the
stalls and on several balcony levels. The issue of sightlines is therefore
particularly important in the blocking and design of the performance.

• The various settings that are portrayed are Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala,
Lagos and Accra, as well as the Three Kings barber shop in London.

• Transitions between scenes are carried out by the ensemble, who move the
items on set (chairs, mattresses, barber’s trolleys, rugs etc to create the new
settings). Settings are denoted by different a-frame signs at floor level.

• The fabrics and textures of many of the furnishings are brightly coloured and
feature bold patterns, often associated with African art, culture and identity.
The items are mismatched, for example an office chair on wheels, a
deckchair and a wooden chair. The various chairs on wheels allow the actors
to ensure that all members of the audience can see the action as they rotate
at certain points during the dialogue. There are no large items of furniture,
which might block sightlines. The biggest item of set is a generator used for
some of the scenes in African barber shops.

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Production Notes

• Around the set and auditorium, there are posters and advertisements (similar to
billboards), as well as the sign for The Three Kings barber shop which is
prominent. There are wires and cables around the sides too, suggesting the
streets beyond the shop interiors in which the action takes place.

• The set also has a variety of chairs and sofas on which the ensemble sit and
observe the action when they are not in a scene. These are dressed with various
capes, wrappers and other textiles of varying colours and patterns.

• A wall-mounted map on one side of the auditorium outlines, lit up by LED lights
highlights where in Africa a particular scene is taking place.

• A small wall-mounted TV is also on a raised level for scenes in London when the
characters are watching a football match.

• A round and lit clock face on one side of the balcony changes its time in
accordance with the setting of each scene.

Key Design Elements: Costume

• The costumes in the production are very varied. All of the costumes are modern
day costumes, but they vary to reflect the age, status and personality of each
character. Some are in trousers, shirt and tie, whereas another character wears
shorts and a string vest.

• Note the difference between many of the costumes in the London barber shop in
terms of colour and style (grey, black, white) in contrast to much brighter,
patterned clothing elsewhere.

• Multi-roling requires the actors to be able to make quick costume changes: note
how costume choices, and slight alteration or additions, make it easier to move
from one character to another for several of the actors.

Some notable costume choices include:

• Lagos: Wallace wears a beige suit (elbow length sleeves, white t-shirt
underneath), Tokunbo has blue knitted cap, pink vest and white underpants. He
then adds a traditional wrapper.

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Production Notes

• London: Samuel wears a white, grey and black t-shirt, grey and black hoodie,
dark blue jeans, Vans and red beanie. Benjamin wears blue jeans, cream
leather jacket, a blue flat cap, a patterned shirt and light grey shoes. Emmanuel
wears a grey linen shirt, blue jeans and apron.

• Accra: Abram’s costume consists of beige trousers, a white checked shirt, and
a beige apron.

• Kampala: Simon wears white trousers and patterned shirt. Paul wears a cream
suit, matching hat, scarf and large necklace with a gold cross.

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Production Notes

Key Design Elements: Lighting

• Warm washes are created in the various barber shops on the African
continent. As well as illuminating the scene, it also suggests the heat of the
settings. In contract, the wash for the London barber shop (Three Kings) is a
whiter and colder tone.

• The nature of in-the-round performances means that most of the light

comes from above and the sides. Look carefully for moments in the
recording where you can see lanterns in the corners of the performance
space (above the same areas where actors enter and exit).

• During transitions, lighting becomes dimmer but other effects such as chase
sequences, lit up LED cables and an illuminated metal globe structure
(which is flown in and out directly above the stage) contribute to the
communication of the change of setting.

• Look carefully at the methods of providing lighting sources at balcony level

in the auditorium where you can see unusual lighting sources.

Key Design Elements: Sound

• The production makes use of live and recorded music.

• For the London barber shop, commercial music such as Shutdown by

Skepta and No Diggity by Blackstreet ft. Dr Dre is used.

• Live a capella singing created by the ensemble marks transitions between

different locations. The coming together of voices also emphasises the unity
of the men, the way in which the barbershops allow them to communicate.
You may find this video helpful in explaining the styles of the music that are
used in this production.

• Live singing also helps mood to change gradually during transitions. For
example, after Simphiwe makes his emotional speech in Johannesburg
towards the end of the performance, music is used to blend from the high
emotion of the scene to a different atmosphere in the next scene.

• Recorded sound effects such as a car horn are used. The sound of electric
trimmers can also be heard during some of the dialogue.

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Production Notes

Key Design Elements: Wigs, Hair and Make-up

• Reflecting the differences between people that occur naturally in real life,
there are a variety of natural hairstyles in this performance.

• The focus on hair, and hair styling in the dialogue means that items such as
clippers are used as props but no actual changes to hair are made! Note that
the production used a barber consultant to ensure that all of the actors were
convincing in their portrayal of working as a barber.

Key Moments

You might like to consider these moments in particular when you are studying the
production.

• The discussion in London (00:27:45 – 00:31:41) where Benjamin talks about

Pidgin English and how language changes.

• In Simon’s barber shop in Kampala the customers discuss attitudes towards

homosexuality. There is also opportunity to focus on the creation of comic
characters, and comedy, in this scene. (00:31:41 – 00:37:10)

• Attitudes towards women and race are explored in this extract that takes
place in London. (00:39:49 – 00:47:05)

• Racism (and the use of terms that are considered racist) is discussed.
(00:48:35 – 00:51:42) This theme then continues in the Johannesburg barber
shop. (00:51:42 – 00:56:53) Content warning: strong language and racially
offensive terms.

• Simphiwe’s scene (01:25:50 – 01:33:13) in Johannesburg as he discusses life

after the Mandelas and also reflects on his own family life creates a highly
emotional scene. What Simphiwe reveals here is later connected in the
audience’s mind when a customer calls in to the Three Kings barber shop in
London. Warning: strong language.

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Production Notes

• The revelations made about Samuel’s father is a key scene which is highly
emotive and continues the climactic tension of Simphiwe’s speech in the
previous scene. (01:33:13 – 01:38:44)

• The final minutes of the play provide answers to some of the remaining
questions that might exist in the audience’s minds and we are given much more
of an insight into Emmanuel’s own circumstances and state of mind. The
concept of strong black masculinity is also discussed in this scene. (01:47:17 –
01:54:25)

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Plot Synopsis

Prologue - Lagos, Nigeria (0:03:15)

Tokunbo is awoken by someone knocking on the door of his barber shop. He calls
for them to come back in two hours, when they open at 8am. The person
knocking, however, says it’s an emergency. Reluctantly Tokunbo answers the
door. The young man who was knocking says he needs a haircut – he has a job
interview at 9am, and it’ll take him three hours to get there.

(0:05:20) The young man introduces himself as Wallace. Wallace asks Tokunbo
about the name of his shop, Kowope, which means ‘Let the money be complete’.
Wallace wants a skin cut, ‘I want to look sharp, aerodynamic’ for his interview to
be a driver. Wallace used to be a teacher, but he discovered he could earn more
as a driver after he ended up driving his aunt and her friends about.

(0:07:40) Returning to the name of Tokunbo’s barber shop, Tokunbo explains how
someone he trained used to love money too much, ‘At the end of the day he will be
shouting Money! Kowope! Kowope! And I never forget it’. Tokunbo says that boy
now lives in London. Tokunbo himself often goes to people’s houses to cut their
hair – that’s how he started 40 years ago, riding up and down mountains on a
bicycle to get to his clients.

(0:09:24) Tokunbo finishes cutting Wallace’s hair. Wallace realises he doesn’t have
enough money to pay for it and so he runs off. Tokunbo calls after him, ‘Thief!’

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Scene 2 - Peckham, London (0:10:40)

Samuel tells someone rattling on the door of the Three Kings barber shop that they
aren’t open yet. He eventually opens the door to Elnathan. Elnathan has come to
see Emmanuel, and Samuel makes it clear that he is not welcome. Elnathan
promises to come back when Emmanuel is in.

(0:11:26) Emmanuel comes in and wants to know who was at the door. Samuel
tells him, ‘Nobody... Why? Who’re you expecting?’ Winston arrives and he and
Samuel have a mock duel with brooms. They catch up on Winston’s potential
girlfriend (Melissa) issues, ‘She’s said no to you like... six times now?’
Conversation then moves on to that afternoon’s Cup Final football match.

(0:12:48) Kwabena arrives and introduces his friend, Kwame, ‘businessman, just
moved to London’. Kwame deals with imports and exports to Accra, Kampala,
Harare, Johannesburg and Lagos. Samuel shouts at a couple of kids outside the
shop, who are throwing bottles at passing cars. Kwame tuts about the lack of
discipline – ‘I blame the government’. Kwabena recalls a child who spoke-back to
his mother in the barber shop last week – ‘In Ghana, the slap he would have
received!’. Kwabena says if his father lived in the UK he would’ve made sure he
went to prison for the way he disciplined him. He gives them a couple of examples
of the terrible things his father did to him and everyone is sympathetic. Emmanuel
says, ‘We didn’t call it abuse so it wasn’t’. Kwame agrees, ‘Things we don’t have
words for in our language don’t exist’. Kwame tells them how his sister was told
she had spoiled her daughter, who has autism, ‘They told her Slap the autism out
of her!’

(0:16:48) Kwame finds out more about the shop. Samuel’s father started the shop
about 11 years ago, but Emmanuel now runs it. Samuel was 15 when his dad
taught him how to cut hair. Samuel has big plans for when he runs his own barber
shop, ‘None of this shabby furniture, or dodgy sound system’. He says the shop
has gone downhill ever since Emmanuel took it over.

Scene 3 - Accra, Ghana (0:19:10)

Fiifi is a new father, and worries that he will make bad decisions bringing up his
child. His barber, Abram, advises him to ‘Do what your father did’. Abram explains
that his father felt his job was to ‘push me, not make me happy’. Abram says he
tells his daughter he loves her, but he doesn’t try to please her. Fiifi’s father
though, ‘beat us mercilessly’. Fiifi is Kwabena’s younger brother and explains how
their father once cracked Kwabena’s jaw; ‘Kwabena never talked to him again, he
left us, he left Ghana that same year. We don’t know where he is’. Abram says Fiifi

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should ‘listen to your child. He will show you how to raise him’.

(0:22:30) Timothy says that Ethiopia is the only African country not to have been
colonised – ‘They’re as African as possible’. Timothy says they even have a 13-
month calendar and Mensah is astonished, ‘They’ll be out of sync with the
world’. Mensah speaks both Twi and Ga with Abram – Abram speaks both
languages as it is ‘good for business’. Mensah knows someone in London, who
spent nine years in Mexico ‘writing a Swahili-to-Spanish dictionary’ – perhaps
Abram should write a ‘Ga-to-Twi dictionary’, so they don’t have to go through
English to understand each other. Abram tells Mensah he can cut his hair in ten
minutes. Timothy and Mensah leave for a Guinness.

Scene 4 - Peckham, London (0:24:40)

Winston points out Samuel has missed a spot when sweeping: ‘Over dere, near
Emmanuel’s chair’. Samuel says Emmanuel can sweep it up himself. Winston
tries to get to the bottom of who was at the door that morning, but Samuel is
evasive in answering. Winston warns that Samuel should be careful about how
he talks to Emmanuel in front of strangers.

(0:25:22) Benjamin arrives for a haircut. He tells them a joke, ‘Hausaman,

Yorubaman and Igboman are having drinks in a bar’. The punchline focuses on
how wasteful each of them are, something Benjamin says General Ojukwu saw
during Nigeria’s civil war but Nigeria is still united because Hausa in the north,
‘can’t stand on their own’. Musa arrives, he and Benjamin speak to each other
in a mix of English and Pidgin. Benjamin laments how kids these days are using
English words. Musa says that all language changes, ‘it’s the evolution of
Pidgin’, but Benjamin thinks it is being corrupted. Winston explains that Musa is
a linguist and spent nine years in Mexico writing a Swahili-to-Spanish dictionary.
Samuel doesn’t see a problem in choosing English over Pidgin, ‘Pidgin no go
take you anywhere’. Benjamin thinks Pidgin makes life more interesting. It’s
banned in school, which Benjamin says makes it ‘the language of rebellion’.
Pidgin also helps to unite Nigeria, which has over 500 languages.

Scene 5 - Kampala, Uganda (0:31:40)

Brian tries to tell a joke – ‘a Baganda man, Bayankole and Acholi man are
having drinks in a bar’ – but Simon doesn’t want to hear it. Simon is annoyed
because Brian is late for his appointment again. Paul bursts into the barber
shop, shouting, ‘Look at my neck!’ Paul has an ingrowing hair. Simon says it is
because Paul has been touching his neck but Paul says it is because the hair

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Plot Synopsis

was cut without being washed. Simon sorts out the ingrowing hair.

(0:35:32) Paul notices Brian – they’ve not met before. Simon says Brian ‘just calls
me any time, “I’m coming”, then arrives late!’ Brian blames today’s lateness on
having his cow stolen, ‘the village court case overran’. Brian thinks his neighbour –
who is gay – stole his cow for dowry, so that he can marry his lover. Simon thinks
Brian is talking nonsense, ‘he needs at least ten! What will one do?’ Simon is
relaxed about homosexuality and says Uganda’s persecution of gay people is bad
for business.

(0:37:27) They move on to talk about Brian’s increasing hair loss. Paul suggests
Brian could ‘use your cow money to do Wayne Rooeny’s hair transplant
procedure’. Simon wanted to do business with Kwame, who was visiting from
London the previous week – Simon has an ‘ancient secret hair formula’ which will
help the hair grow back. Brian says he can try it and then give Simon the money if
it works.

(0:38:10) Returning to Brian’s missing cow, Simon tells Brian to let his neighbour
have it. Simon credits love with making people do crazy things but Paul doesn’t
like ‘crazy love’. Paul is engaged and has two children with his fiancée but that’s
not crazy love. Paul says a woman ‘can manipulate when they discover your love’.
Simon has two girlfriends, but they know about each other so it’s fine. Paul’s
dowry for his fiancée is 60 cows, which stuns Brian and Simon. Brian says, ‘That is
unreasonable love’. Brian refuses to say how much he paid for his wife, ‘I cannot
moneyterise her’.

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Scene 6 - Peckham, London (0:40:44)

Mohammed is holding court in the barber shop, talking about the difference
between going out with a white woman and a black woman. If he had to
choose, he’d pick a white woman for two reasons: no dowry and a white
woman is more likely to disobey her family and follow her heart. Despite this,
Mohammed says he considers himself ‘a proper black man’ which means he
will end up with a black woman. He tells them a story about a white woman he
met in a club who bought all of his drinks and he took her home with him. The
next day when he received a call from a Jamaican girl he liked, he put the
phone on loudspeaker and got a friend to phone him, pretending to need a lift
from Gatwick. The white woman didn’t take it well and Mohammed says he
ended up spending more money going out with the Jamaican girl. Tanaka takes
issue with the way Mohammed sees the world, ‘You’re mixing culture with race
and can’t tell the difference!’ Things start to get heated until Winston quips,
‘Besides, if y’na have adequate employment, none a dem choose you!’

(0:47:04) Samuel arrives and jokes that he thought Mohammed had been
deported. Mohammed replies, ‘Donald Tump and Theresa May can’t catch me’.
Samuel gets Mohammed to sit for his usual trim, but then heads out on a
‘break’. Emmanuel reprimands him for leaving while he has a client in the
barber’s chair, but Samuel says, ‘You cut your hair, I’ll cut mine’. Samuel hates
Emmanuel telling him what to do, ‘you’re not my dad, yeah?...you’ll never be
half the man he is’.

(0:48:30) The men turn their attention to the starting lineup for Chelsea v
Barcelona. Mohammed says he doesn’t like Suarez because he is racist.
Emmanuel points out the hypocrisy of football, ‘they banned him because he is
South American, he suffered racism too! Because when John Terry did it to
Anton Ferdinand, everyone rushed to his defence’. Mohammed thinks both
Terry and Suarez are racist. They discuss how racist words are often about the
context in which they are used. Tanaka says in South Africa, kaffir is one of the
most racist terms you can use.

(0:51:40) The Cup Final begins. Everyone except Emmanuel is supporting

Chelsea.

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Plot Synopsis

Scene 7 - Johannesburg, South Africa (0:52:26)

Fabrice says that if he hadn’t been a barber he would like to have been a
journalist, but he got into trouble for writing satire about Nigeria’s former
president: Goodluck Jonathan. Shoni laughs that Goodluck ‘has the most
ridiculous name’. Simphiwe thinks that ‘when things are good, names are good’.
Shoni agrees: his own siblings are called Langa (Sunshine), Njabulo (Happiness),
Shonisani (Expectations), Lindani (Patience), Bhehezela (Endurance) and Nkosi-
Sisize (God help us).

(0:53:44) The radio reports that a goal has been scored by Chelsea in the Cup
Final, much to the delight of the men. Shoni says that if Chelsea win, he’s going
drinking and dancing. Fabrice admits he is both suprised and impressed by how
much people drink in South Africa, and Simphiwe says it’s all down to the
vineyards. Fabrice spots Shoni has grey hair and offers to dye it, but Simphiwe
ridicules the idea, ‘That’s like women getting extensions’. The men laugh at the
idea ‘black women get away with murder because DNA from their hair will be
traced to a bald woman in India’.

(0:55:00) The conversation briefly returns to football, before Simphiwe offends

Fabrice by saying, ‘Shoni, you’re beginning to look like a rapper, gonna be the
coolest nigga in the club’. Shoni, though, says that kaffir is the most offensive
thing you can say to a South African, ‘Because Afrikaners called us that’. When
he was a child, Simphiwe used to charge white children to call him kaffir,
because he reasoned they were going to call him that anyway, why not charge
them? Shoni and Fabrice are appalled. Shoni’s mother and cousin were
assaulted by white people who called his mother a ‘kaffir bitch!’ Shoni’s father,

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though, refused to move, and Fabrice nods approvingly, ‘He wanted to stand and
fight like a man’. Simphiwe thinks that real men avoid fights, further offending
Shoni.

(0:56:52) The radio announces a goal for Barcelona, scored by Suarez,

momentarily distracting the men. However, Shoni returns to Simiphiwe’s actions
as a child, ‘Dollar to call you kaffir? Pathetic. They probably think that’s how
much we’re worth’. Despite European investment in South Africa, Shoni doesn’t
think his views towards white people will change. Shoni reveals that Simphiwe
had been thinking of moving to Wales to work. Simphiwe explains it is because of
his son, but Shoni mocks him, ‘Your son is an actor in London’. Shoni jokes he
should be treated differently to other South Africans, ‘see how handsome I am?’
Fabrice has finished with Shoni and brushes him with a feather duster. Simphiwe
wonders what bird the feathers are from, ‘I want a swan-feather duster; I’m a king
and I love my skin’. Shoni is incredulous, ‘Thought you were a kaffir?’

Scene 8 - Peckham, London (0:59:29)

The Cup Final has seven minutes left at 2-2. Samuel asks why Ohene is letting
Winston cut his hair – Winston isn’t to be trusted. Last week was Winston’s
birthday and he didn’t share a huge bottle of rum with his colleagues. Winston
points out that it was his birthday. The bottle of rum was a gift from Melissa, and
Samuel suggests it was a bribe so Winston would leave her alone. Winston
admits that it never crossed his mind to offer his colleagues a drink of the rum,
‘Africans na drink’. He says the barber shop is their equivalent of a pub. Tanaka
disputes this: in South Africa, white farmers paid Africans in wine instead of
money, ‘generations later, they’re still pissed’. Samuel smokes weed more than
he drinks. Ohene exclaims, ‘You Fela Kuti followers have come again!’ Samuel
asks what’s wrong with Fela and Ohene says his recent popularity is only
because ‘the west embraced him’. Ohene clarifies that the west doesn’t mean
white people, ‘we are the west! Now our young people want to smoke, make
music, instead of getting proper jobs’. Ohene says that ‘Christianity is the biggest
business in Africa’. Wole doesn’t think you can blame pastors for making money,
‘they’re just doing what they were taught’.

(1:03:12) Chelsea score another goal. Emmanuel’s phone beeps and Samuel
wants to know who is messaging him. Wole proudly says that four of Chelsea’s
attacking team playing in the African Cup of Nations. A goal is missed and the
men tut about the keeper. Ohene and Wole point out that the slums you see in
the Welcome to Lagos documentary are not the real Lagos, and that they are

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building floating schools. Tanaka jokes ‘Nigerians make it happen. Not like
Ghanaians’. Emmanuel’s wife is Ghanaian, and the men joke that he is a traitor.

(1:04:57) The men keep their eyes on the football match, criticising players for
earning too much. Emmanuel’s phone beeps again and Barcelona miss another
goal. Emmanuel says, good-humouredly, ‘We’ll get you next time’. Samuel
angrily replies before Winston cautions him for disrespecting the boss in front of
people. Emmanuel starts to head out, though Samuel tries to stop him. The final
whistle of the match blows, and the men in the barber shop block Emmanuel in,
taunting, ‘Them they lose oh! One by one’. Emmanuel finally has enough. He
leaves.

Scene 9 - Harrare, Zimbabwe (1:06:51)

Dwain enters Tinashe’s barber shop, talking about the match. Tinashe offers
Dwain some ‘antibalding cream made with local Ugandan herbs’. Tinashe is
preparing for the arrival of is cousin Tanaka from London, and Dwain has just
arrived back in Zimbabwe too. Dwain warns that Tanaka probably won’t get past
the border as he has a British passport and writes about politics. Dwain asks for
a haircut on the house and Tinashe agrees.

(1:07:50) Dwain retunes the radio to play Chimurenga music. Dwain has returned
to Harare from Johannesburg because the music industry in Zimbabwe has
grown, though he says the music is still unknown by the outside world ‘because
Zimbabwe is bashed by media outside, because vaMugabe took land from white
people’. Tinashe points out that people were killed but Dwain stands up for
Mugabe. Dwain scolds Tinashe for not playing Chimurenga music at his party.
Tinashe finally snaps and points out that Dwain left when things got tough.

Scene 10 - Peckham, London (1:12:50)

Sizwe talks about an uncle of his in Zimbabwe, who used to travel by bicycle
between villages – sometimes up to ten per day – to cut people’s hair. Samuel
doesn’t believe anyone could cycle to ten villages in one day just to cut hair, he
suspects Sizwe is exaggerating. Samuel finishes cutting Sizwe’s hair and Sizwe
realises he doesn’t have enough money on him to pay for it. Samuel says he can
owe them next time.

(1:16:13) Tanaka has been hanging about waiting for Winston, but Winston is at
a four o’clock appointment with a home client. Emmanuel offers to cut Tanaka’s
hair and Samuel warns Tanaka that Emmanuel has a ‘history of violence and

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Plot Synopsis

stealing people’s business’. Tanaka is reluctant to accept Emmanuel’s offer, ‘I

always go to Winston’, but eventually comes round to the idea. Tanaka asks
about what Samuel said and Emmanuel cautiously admits that he used to
‘communicate with my fists when I was young’, but the accusation that he stole
people’s business is ‘another conversation’.

(1:17:45) Emmanuel reveals more about his relationship with Samuel. Samuel is
the son of Emmanuel’s best friend, Malachi, who co-founded the shop with
Emmanuel and Elnathan. Conversation moves on to Tanaka’s imminent trip to
Zimbabwe. Emmanuel likes Mugabe, despite what the papers say about him,
‘Mugabe acts like a man, he’s a natural president. He stands for his people’.
Tanaka is sceptical but says he is now going back to Zimbabwe because ‘we
should paint Zimbabwe with colours other than Mugabe, and change how we
talk about ourselves to each other and the rest of the world’.

Emmanuel finishes cutting Tanaka’s hair, and he wishes the young man luck.

Scene 11 - Johannesburg, South Africa (1:22:20)

Simphiwe arrives at Andile’s barber shop, wanting a haircut. Andile knows that
Simphiwe has been to another barber. Andile says Simphiwe’s father has been
looking for him, but despite assurances that his father has changed, Simphiwe
doesn’t want to see him. Simphiwe says how he didn’t know his father until he
turned 40, ‘I tracked him down and discovered I was the eldest of ten kids’. His
father had never looked for him because ‘he said “I thought you were gonna be
another drunk rubbish, so I didn’t bother”’. Simphiwe was driven to drink when
he realised his father was spending all his money on drink, and beating his wife
and children. Simphiwe’s own life went downhill – he was thrown out by his wife
in London and hasn’t seen his son since he was six. Simphiwe’s son is now an
actor, ‘doing wonderful things, even with my blood’. Simphiwe says that in his
own childhood, ‘money was so tight, I used to charge white kids to call me kaffir,
just so I could buy food’.

(1:27:57) Simphiwe is angry at Mandela and thinks Winnie Mandela should have
led South Africa – Mandela let white people off too easily and it’s left people
frustrated. Simphiwe describes the truth and reconciliation commission ‘a farce’
– ‘all the perpetrators had to do was admit it or apologise and most didn’t even
do that!’. Andile is concilatory, ‘You can’t do nothing about Mandela, but your
father wants to make amends’. He offers to set up a meeting between Simphiwe
and his father, ‘I can give you a haircut first’.

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Plot Synopsis

Scene 12 - Peckham, London (1:33:20)

Emmanuel introduces Elnathan to Winston. Elnathan set up the ‘Three Kings’
barber shop with Emmanuel and Samuel’s father but he no longer cuts hair
because he has a broken hand. Elnathan now lives in Leeds and he invites
Emmanuel and Emmanuel’s wife, Belinda, to come and visit. Emmanuel says his
wife is so busy, it would be impossible, and Winston says he’s never met
Belinda. Elnathan describes her as ‘so beautiful, it’s not fair’. The conversation
swings onto that afternoon’s football match, and Elnathan jokes about how bad
Barcelona were. Emmanuel agrees, but ‘at least Suarez didn’t bite anyone’.

(1:34:47) Samuel arrives and, spotting Elnathan, angrily tells him to leave.
Elnathan attempts to explain that Samuel’s father asked him to go there but
Samuel lunges at Elnathan. Samuel blames Elnathan for his father being in prison
– he says that his father caught Elnathan stealing from the safe but he and
Emmanuel let his father take the rap. Samuel’s accusations get too much for
Emmanuel, who finally reveals what really happened: Samuel’s father was the one
stealing, and Elnathan received two broken ribs and a busted hand after he
caught him in the act. Elnathan says that Samuel’s father sent him there with a
poster and a note for Emmanuel. Samuel, however, doesn’t believe it.

Scene 13 - Lagos, Nigeria (1:38:39)

Olawale says that the biggest tribe in Nigeria is now Chelsea fans. Tokunbo
agrees that they now have ‘extended upon extended family’. Tokunbo’s jubilation
about the match is short-lived, as he recalls Wallace waking him up at 6am and
not paying for his haircut. Olawale offers to pay for the haircut, which placates
Tokunbo.

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Plot Synopsis

(1:39:40) Olawale has just been travelling for business, visiting London, Accra,
Kampala, Harare and Johannesburg. His business partner is Kwame, who now
lives in London. Tokunbo’s thoughts once more turn to Wallace and the unpaid-
for haircut. Olawale attempts a joke, ‘one Hausaman, Yorubaman and Igboman
are having drinks in a bar’, but Tokunbo has heard this joke already. A car horn
indicates that Tokunbo’s taxi has arrived for a seven o’clock appointment.
Olawale can’t believe that Tokunbo is scheduling appointments, ‘time
restrictions no work for Africa’.

(1:41:50) Wallace arrives, apologising for fleeing the barber shop without paying
earlier in the day. Wallace got the job he had the interview for, and has come to
pay Tokunbo double the price of the haircut. He has also got Tokunbo a present
– a poster from his uncle Elnathan in London. Tokunbo is pleased with the gift
and lets Wallace charge his phone. Tokunbo’s generator allows for five or six
phones to charge at any one time, he says this means the barber shop acts as a
‘beacon for the community, where men come to be men’.

Scene 14 - Peckham, London (1:44:01)

Samuel reads out the note from his father to Emmanuel. Samuel is crushed at
the realisation his father did try to steal from his own business but Emmanuel
tries to soften the blow and suggests they look to the future rather than dwell on
it. Winston is relieved that the tension between Samuel and Emmanuel is now
broken and pours them all a tot of his birthday rum to celebrate. Winston then
leaves for the pub, ‘and you’re not invited! Crazy Africans!’

(1:46:50) Elnathan leaves to catch a train to Leeds. He urges Emmanuel to bring

Belinda up with him to visit. Samuel and Elnathan part on good terms. Samuel
asks Emmanuel why he wasn’t told about his father earlier and he apologises.
Emmanuel says that the barber shop was always intended to be Samuel’s in the
end. Ethan arrives, in need of a haircut. Samuel tells him they are closed but
Emmanuel offers to cut his hair and lock up the shop.

(1:49:00) Emmanuel and Ethan chat about each of their days. Emmanuel admits
he doesn’t mind that Barcelona lost the Cup Final, ‘I just pretend for the others’.
Ethan is an actor and has an audition the next day. He doesn’t think he’ll get the
job, ‘I don’t look the part’. Ethan says he doesn’t fit casting directors’ idea of
‘strong black masculinity’ and the two men try to break down what ‘strong’ and
‘masculine’ really mean. Ethan’s father left when he was six and he doesn’t have
any uncles, so has no real male role model apart from people like Mandela, ‘they

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Plot Synopsis

are legends, titans, country-sized men. Compared to them we’re islands’. Ethan is
too embarrassed to talk to his girlfriend about these issues and his friends just tell
him to ‘man up’. Emmanuel has a confession of his own: his wife Belinda died a
few months ago.

(1:53:00) Emmanuel finishes cutting Ethan’s hair and the young man says he wants
to come back the next day, ‘just to sit, listen, talk’. As Ethan starts to leave,
Emmanuel asks if he wants to hear a joke, ‘an Englishman, an Irishman and a
Scotsman are having drinks in a bar’.

The End

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Find out more

Watch
Inua Ellams introducing the play, how he researched it and the
stories he wanted to tell. This video was recorded for a National
Theatre at Home screening on YouTube during the UK’s national
lockdown in 2020.

This interview in which Inua Ellams talks to a Guardian journalist

about the play, black masculinity and his experience as a
immigrant.

This interview with Inua Ellams, exploring why he wrote the play.

These short video diaries from the rehearsal room:

Number 1
Number 2

This video in which Musical Director Michael Henry assembles the

cast of Barber Shop Chronicles to demonstrate the vocal
techniques used in the National Theatre's 2017 production.

Explore
More materials relating to the production including the costume
designs, poster, programme, stage management reports and more
are held at the National Theatre Archive, which is free to visit. Find
out more here: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/archive

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Barber Shop Chronicles − Learning Guide

Find out more

Suggestions for Further Activity/Research

Rae Smith has designed a number of productions for the National
Theatre. Choose a different production that you could compare in
terms of style & genre, stage configuration and theme.
(Productions on the NT Collection which feature Rae’s work
include: wonder.land, Translations and Macbeth). Other work for
the National Theatre includes The Light Princess and War Horse,
material for which can be accessed in the National Theatre’s
Archive.

Gareth Fry has provided sound design for a range of productions

at the NT. Watch this video which explores sound design in
theatre, and the role of the sound designer. Having watched
Gareth Fry’s video, and experienced the range of music in the
production, create a playlist (music and sound effects) that you
would include in a play of your choice. This could be a set text that
you are studying, or a play that you have particularly enjoyed
watching or reading.

When the production toured in the UK and USA, the venues could
not always accommodate the in-the-round configuration that
featured in the original production at the Dorfman Theatre. Having
watched the production discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of each possible stage configuration for the play.

Listen to Inua Ellams’ TedxBrixton talk to understand the

themes and context of the play’s development.

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Find out more

Inua Ellams was also working on Three Sisters for the National
Theatre during the process of creating Barber Shop Chronicles.
Watch this production (which is available on NT Collection).
Ellams has said that he did not feel the need to include women in
Barber Shop Chronicles, particularly because Three Sisters was an
opportunity to focus on the female experience and perspective.
What similarities and differences do you see in the way in which
the productions are staged, and the way in which the plays have
been constructed?

We hope that you have enjoyed watching and studying Barber Shop Chronicles.
Don't forget that there are many more fantastic productions to explore as part of
the NT Collection. We hope that watching this recorded production has made
you feel inspired to see and make live theatre. Why not find out what’s
happening at your local theatre and how you can get involved?

This guide to support your viewing of the production was compiled by Teacher and
Arts Education Consultant Susie Ferguson.

If you have any comments or feedback on our resources please contact us:
ntcollection@nationaltheatre.org.uk

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