Stef Stessel
Junior Mthombeni, Michael De Cock, Inua Ellams / DC&J Création, Théâtre de Liège & KVS
Barber Shop Chronicles
Rates
Tickets via KVS
Duration
135'Location
-
Secondary education
- 5th secondary
- 6th secondary
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.
Credits
WITH Priscilla Adade, Junior Akwety, BATGAME, Hippolyte Bohouo, Martin Chishimba, Salif Cissé, Yoli Fuller, Aristote Luyindela, José Mavà, Jovial Mbenga, Souleymane Sylla, Clyde Yeguete TEXT Inua Ellams DIRECTION Junior Mthombeni & Michael De Cock ADAPTATION Junior Akwety, Omar Ba, Caroline Gonce TRANSLATION Collective translation by Master’s students in Translation (ULiège) under the supervision of Valérie Bada (Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches en Traduction et en Interprétation) SCENOGRAPHY AND LIGHTING Stef Stessel COSTUMES Marie Lovenberg PRODUCER & MUSICIAN BATGAME ARTISTIC COLLABORATION Caroline Gonce DRAMATURGY Gerardo Salinas ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR Mehdy Khachachi CHOREOGRAPHIC ADVICE Serge Aimé Coulibaly STAGE MANAGEMENT Baptiste Wattier LIGHTING ENGINEER Antoine Fiori SOUND ENGINEER Jaspar Kevin STAGE TECHNICIAN Aristide Schmit PHOTOS Stef Stessel SET CONSTRUCTION Ateliers du Théâtre de Liège COSTUME PRODUCTION Ateliers du Théâtre de Liège PRODUCTION Théâtre de Liège & DC&J Création CO-PRODUCTION KVS, MC93 Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis Bobigny, Théâtre de Namur, Théâtre Jean Vilar Louvain-la-Neuve, Théâtre National de Strasbourg, Le Volcan Scène nationale du Havre, Bonlieu Scène nationale Annecy, La Comédie de Valence CDN Drôme-Ardèche, TNDM – Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II Lisbon, TNC – Teatre Nacional de Catalunya Barcelona, Lliure Barcelona, Piccolo Teatro di Milano Teatro d’Europa, Les Théâtres de la Ville du Luxembourg WITH THE SUPPORT OF Belgian federal government’s Tax Shelter, Inver Tax Shelter WITH ARTISTIC PARTICIPATION OF Jeune Théâtre National (France) SUPPORT Club des Entreprises Partenaires du Théâtre de Liège
This production was licensed through an agreement with The Agency (London) Ltd. The Barbershop Chronicles was first produced by Fuel Theatre and The National Theatre (30 May 2017). The original play Chroniques du Barber Shop by Inua Ellams was published by L’Arche in a collective translation led by Valérie Bada.