One day, six cities, a few haircuts, and thousands of stories

For many African men and men of African descent, the barbershop is much more than just a place to get a haircut. It’s a meeting point, a space for trust and conversation, where barbers take on the role of wise men and the shop transforms into a kind of confessional. In these timeless spaces, taboos dissolve, and topics like migration, education, women, religion, football, and politics are freely debated.

In a play that spans continents, Barber Shop Chronicles invites the audience to step inside six barbershops in six different cities – Kinshasa, Ouagadougou, Douala, Dakar, Abidjan, and Brussels – all on the day of the Champions League final. It feels as if the audience is eavesdropping on conversations — in French, Wolof, Bambara, Baoulé, Dioula… –  set to the hum of clippers and the rhythm of waving towels.

With his sharp, witty, and rhythmic writing, Inua Ellams immerses us in the richness of African cultures through countless everyday stories – from the most ordinary to the most extraordinary – and casts an insightful gaze on contemporary Black masculinities.

Lively, exuberant, and carried by a contagious energy that blends music and lyrical outbursts, the adaptation by Junior Mthombeni and Michael De Cock celebrates the vibrancy of cultures too often left in the shadows.
 

The press about Barber Shop Chronicles:

“The production lends a rare and welcome ear to the dreams, the struggles, the moments of pride, as well as the admissions of vulnerability of an entire diaspora. It turns the barbershop into a mirror in which one can see oneself differently, between strands of laughter and tufts of truth.” – Le Soir

“Inua Ellams’ play Barber Shop Chronicles, directed by Michael De Cock and Junior Mthombeni, turns the barbershop into a place where life and stories unfold in abundance, with an electrifying, head-turning energy.” – Scèneweb

“Barber Shop Chronicles is also, perhaps even above all, a chronicle of masculinity in doubt. A virtuosic ensemble of men finds a perfect balance between ‘dry’ acting, in a Flemish style, and French pathos. They are subtly challenged by Priscilla Adade.” – Pzazz 

“What sets the work apart above all is its stunning sense of rhythm: a cadence and pulse that flow unceasingly through the performance. From beginning to end, the pace remains captivating, driven by an energy that balances between boulevard theatre (set in a hair salon), dance, celebration, and melancholy.” – Les Inrocks