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| Ellams |
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| Ellams |
The ambience of the hall was
cool and calm, the light was dim and people’s eyes moved to and fro expecting a
team of actors to appear on stage.
As Afro-beat music was
being played on the background, in a rhythmic movement, a tall, young man stealthily
appears on stage and sits on a chair.
Wearing a white t-shirt
stained with blood, Inua Elams gets up, staggering and moving as if he is searching
for something or somebody. He paces up and down in bewilderment expecting to
hear good news about his father’s state of health.
Produced by Fuel and written
and performed by Ellams, The 14th Tale is a rich, smooth flowing story
about a funny and amusing escapade of a mischievous young African whose early
years on earth began in Jos, Plateau, Nigeria, before he followed his parents
to relocate abroad. Did he stop fomenting trouble in Dublin and London?
As the audience
journeys with him to his past, he takes them down the memory lane about his
troublesome attitude (which runs in their lineage).
“Life does
not flashback when death threatens.” Ellams at a point, unveils his soft side
as he realises he has come of age to acquaint himself with a female companion,
but the lady he loves is in love with another man. He devises a means to
attract the lady’s attention by sneaking into her bathroom in the middle of the
night and pours acrylic paints to arouse pity from her but the girl wants to
raise alarm, as he tries to explain things to her, his phone rings
intermittently. He hesitates before picking the call but the message he
receives changes his life and psyche: His father has been taken to hospital
because he is down with stroke! Life is indeed not a bed of roses. From that moment
Ellams becomes sober and has a rethink about life.
In a nutshell, The 14th
Tale is an autobiography of a man brought up in three distinct cultural
backgrounds which later changed his thought about life.
Ellams, a
spoken word artist, writer and graphic artist gave a mind-blowing performance recently
at the Lagos Theatre Festival organised by British Council at Casa Chianti
Restaurant, Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The venue, though small was filled to
capacity and the audience’s comments proved that they were satisfied with his
performance.
Someone who has not watched
such an act before would go home wondering how one person could hold his
audience spell bound with scintillating acts.
During his 55 minutes
performance, the poet mesmerised the audience with good diction and clear
accent. He sounded natural and words flowed as if he was reading from a book. In
fact, whoever watches him play would not want the show to end.
There was no mistake in
terms of his choice of words and movement. One may think that listening to a
monologue would be boring but Ellams’ impressive story-telling was quite
interesting as it touches his family, friends and lovers.
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