Nigerian-born British playwright and poet
Inua Marc Mohammed Onore de Ellams II[1][2]MBE FRSL[3] (born 23 October 1984[1]) is a Nigerian-born British poet, playwright and performer. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to the arts.[4]
Ellams has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company,[5]Royal National Theatre and the BBC. In June 2018, Ellams was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature as part of its 40 Under 40 initiative.[3][6] He took part in The Complete Works mentoring programme for poets of colour.
The Salt Book of Younger Poets (Salt, 2010)[7][citation needed]
Ellams's one-man show The 14th Tale was awarded an Edinburgh Fringe First at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2009, and later transferred to the Royal National Theatre, London.[8]
A one-man show staged at the Soho Theatre in 2010,[9] telling the story of twins born on Nigeria's independence day.[10]
Barber Shop Chronicles is a play set in black barber shops in six cities on one day, against the backdrop of a football match between Chelsea and Barcelona. The play explores the African diaspora in the UK,[11] masculinity, homosexuality and religion. The play was produced by the National Theatre, Fuel Theatre and Leeds Playhouse and was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award in 2017.[12] Following a period of touring, the play was also performed at the Roundhouse in 2019,[13] and a recording of the National Theatre production was streamed in May 2020 as part of the National Theatre at Home season.[14] For the production, Ellams recorded 60 hours of "male banter"[15] in barbershops all over Africa and in London at his barber Peter's shop Emmanuel's in Clapham Junction.[15] This project originally did not secure funding.[16]
In April 2019, his new play, The Half God of Rainfall, was presented at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre,[17] in advance of its run at London's Kiln Theatre, as well as its publication as a book.[18]
In December 2019–February 2020, a reworking by Ellams of Chekhov's play Three Sisters was performed at the Royal National Theatre, London.[19] The play restaged the story in the 1960s in the midst of the Biafran war in Nigeria.[20]
In 2020, Ellams performed a live stage programme with anecdotes of his childhood and his experiences as a refugee. An excerpt was shown at the Hay Festival on 24 May 2020.[8]