Black T-Shirt Collection @ Pleasance Courtyard

After a successful UK wide tour in 2012, playwright and performer Inua Ellams brings his Black T-shirt Collection to the Edinburgh Fringe. Foster brothers Matthew and Muhammed run a T-shirt stall, Matthew is the artistic input and Muhammed runs the business side. However, when an incident occurs, the pair are forced to leave Nigeria and seek better fortunes in Egypt and beyond. 

The fact that Ellams is also a poet is immediately evident from the lyrical rhythms of his prose. Although the script is rich in themes – the persecution of homosexuals, Christian and Muslim differences, extortion of the poor and racial divides – it doesn’t feel overwhelming or heavy. Instead, like a school educational video, it imparts its serious messages in an engaging and entertaining manner, wrapped up in a narrative that is both naturally believable and excitingly fictional. Ellams’ excellent characterisation (physically and verbally), embodying all his characters with such exquisite personification and depth of understanding, gives the story a personal stance that wouldn’t have been achieved by a cast of actors. One particular speech about how the divisive nature of sectarianism in Nigeria is as much a political issue as a religious one, reflects the continuing crisis in Egypt, revealing how this is a timely examination of contemporary society. Ellams has created starkly poignant and profound monologue, which is as beautiful to listen to, as it is shocking to hear.