season sponsor title sponsor WELCOME Every December I visit the other London, in England. While preparing for the trip last year I took notice of a new produc- tion that was the talk of town and selling out: Barber Shop Chronicles. It was being performed at one of my favourite theatres in the world — the National Theatre of England. I snapped Supporting up a ticket and crossed my fingers. The moment I walked into the the- atre, my heart lifted and I burst into a the arts, big smile. It was clear that something special was unfolding. I was instantly transported, engaged, and swept up in the thrill of the event. When I returned to Canada I started making inquiries — locally. tracking down the playwright and the theatre producers. It is a dream come true for me to bring a great new play from this beloved theatre to our stage. We are committed to being world curious here at the Grand Theatre and this production is the first of many international productions to come. This fine company of artists joins us in the middle of their tour, which began in October in Arizona and has been touring on the us West Coast. We are the only Canadian stop on their journey, and following their time here, they head directly to the Kennedy Center in Washington, dc. We are truly in fine company. Barber Shop Chronicles dazzles on every level — but what I will always remember is how powerful a story can be when it is presented directly and honestly, with a whole pile of theatrical fun. It is a thrill to welcome the company of Barber Shop Chronicles to Canada. dennis garnhum artistic director Each year, through various donations and sponsorships, we are committed to helping our local communities. We would like to acknowledge the history of the traditional territory in which the Grand Theatre operates. We would also like to respect the longstanding relationships of the three local First Nations groups of this land and We’re proud to be the 2018/2019 season place in Southwestern Ontario. The three First Nations communities closest in proximity to the Grand are the sponsor of the Grand Theatre. Chippewa of the Thames First Nation (part of the Anishinaabe), the Oneida Nation of the Thames (part of the Haudenosaunee) and the Munsee-Delaware Nation (part of the Leni-Lunaape). 18-1626 The Grand Theatre_Ev2.indd 1 20/08/2018 12:06:49 PM spriet stage, noVember 15 to 24, 2018 opening night noVember 16 Since 1883, Club House has been committed to bringing Canada the purest flavours possible. From our family in London, Ontario, to yours—we’re proud to have found a home away from home in so many Canadian cupboards. A Fuel, National Theatre, and West Yorkshire Playhouse co-production Writer INUA ELLAMS Director BIJAN SHEIBANI Designer RAE SMITH AFTER 135 YEARS CANADIANS KNOW Lighting Designer JACK KNOWLES Movement Director ALINE DAVID Sound Designer GARETH FRY PURE FLAVOUR Music Director MICHAEL HENRY Fight Director KEV McCURDY TASTES BETTER Associate Director STELLA ODUNLAMI Associate Director LEIAN JOHN-BAPTISTE Assistant Choreographer KWAMI ODOOM Barber Consultant PETER ATAKPO Company Voice Work CHARMIAN HOARE Dialect Coach HAZEL HOLDER Tour Casting Director LOTTE HINES Starring Jan Alexandra Smith as Scrooge Wallace / Timothy / Mohammed / Tinashe TUWAINE BARRETT Tanaka / Fifi MOHAMMED MANSARAY Musa / Andile / Mensah MAYNARD EZIASHI Ethan ALHAJI FOFANA Samuel ELLIOT EDUSAH Winston / Shoni SOLOMON ISRAEL Tokunbo / Paul / Simphiwe PATRICE NAIAMBANA Emmanuel ANTHONY OFOEGBU Kwame / Fabrice / Brian KENNETH OMOLE Olawale / Wole / Kwabena / Simon EKOW QUARTEY Elnathan / Benjamin / Dwain JO SERVI Abram / Ohene / Sizwe DAVID WEBBER Design Associate CATHERINE MORGAN Re-lighter and Production Electrician RACHEL BOWEN Lighting Associate LAURA HOWELLS Sound Associate LAURA HAMMOND Wardrobe Supervisor LOUISE MARCHAND-PARIS Pre-Production Manager RICHARD EUSTACE Join us this Production Manager SARAH COWAN Company Stage Manager JULIA REID holiday season! Deputy Stage Manager FIONA BARDSLEY Assistant Stage Manager SYLVIA DARKWA-OHEMENG The classic returns in Costume Supervisor LYDIA CRIMP a gender-flipping twist Costume and Buying Supervisor JESSICA DIXON that’s sure to delight! Immerse yourself in this Co-commissioned by Fuel and the National Theatre. Development funded by Arts Council England with the support of Fuel, spectacle of Scrooge and National Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, The Binks Trust, British Council ZA, Òran Mór and A Play, a Pie and a Pint. Cover photo by Dean Chalkley. her transformation at the The Grand Theatre is an active member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT) and engages, under the hands of the three ghostly terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. By Charles Dickens The Grand Theatre acknowledges with thanks the co-operation of Locals 105 and 828 of the International Alliance of Theatrical spirits of Christmas Past, Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists, and Allied Crafts of the United States, its Territories and Canada, and The Adapted by Dennis Garnhum Present, and Future. London Musicians’ Association Local 279. Directed by Megan Watson The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited. Set Designer Allan Stichbury, Costume Designer Kelly Wolf, Coming this December Lighting Designer Bonnie Beecher, Sound Designer Jim Neil season sponsor title sponsor title accommodation sponsor partners THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS THE SPRIET STAGE IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY HELEN & ANDY SPRIET. season sponsor program sponsors Grand Gala Accessing Season Hosting Assistive Hearing Presenting Sponsor the Arts Partner Devices title sponsors Timothy Findley’s The Wars Barber Shop Chronicles A Christmas Carol 100 Schools Students Club Vigilante August Wilson’s Fences Mamma Mia! An Undiscovered Shakespeare COMPASS New Play Development Barber Shop Chronicles Wardrobe Accommodation Partners Internship high school project Title Sponsor Make a Diff erence Program Partners partners Community Pillar Partner Westminster Florist Hotel Wine Framing Wardrobe & Props College Foundation government funders Vehicles Apparel Catering Lighting Printing Lease the Luxury. Q&A WITH INUA ELLAMS What inspired you to write this play? Own the Lifestyle. Years ago I learnt of a charity that was trying to train barbers in the very basics of counselling, and I never realised how intimate the conversations could get between barbers and clients. Initially I wanted to be voyeuristic and create poems. Just to record the conversations and try and write about the interactions between these men. No one would fund me to do this, but the idea stayed with me. The idea of the poems turned to conversations, to scenes, to settings, to drama, to politics, to anthropology, to history, to the contemporary — to everything really. I wanted to capture the fragility of black men in their own setting. How did you approach the piece? I went to London, South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana. I met individuals, transcribed and recorded, mixed things together, created whole new characters, scrapped some and cre- ated this play that is 40% verbatim 60% invented. It was a lot of work drawing strands together. I’ve written quite a few drafts — I’m approaching the tenth now — and each time I am refi ning, cleaning up, reducing, realising aspects of the play. I’ve tried to create that sense of camarade- rie and a safe space for the men in the play to be themselves. What is the significance of the different places in the play? Simply because they’re Anglophone Africa rather than Francophone Africa, I wanted to create a diasporas, conversation between black African men in the uk and black African men on the continent. And those were the places I had the most friends and ins into barber shops. What do you want people to take away from the piece? Just how vast, complex, and nuanced the continent is. The very many types of black men that exist. The stereotypes created for us, for the actors on television, all of them lack in grace and specifi city and are tired and dated. It is just so multilayered, a plethora of identities that we don’t have represented in the uk and I wanted to share that. To show the kaleidoscopic nature of masculinity on the continent and here. What advice would you give aspiring writers? To be themselves. To chase their most ridiculous thoughts, inspirations, and starting points down the rabbit hole and see what you fi nd and what bears fruit. That’s it. So much of every- thing that I do comes from just that. Most of the time, I feel that I’m an inspiring writer. When I sit down to write a poem or a play I scratch my head and think, ‘How do I do this again? What is this all about?’ I think writing always has to feel new and slightly terrifying. Just be your- self, see how your identity or background informs your interest and start from that. That’s something that can never be taken away from you: your own uniqueness, way of questioning, idiosyncrasies, and infi nitely reductive misconceptions of the world. Those are new lenses to shine a story through and see what comes out the other end. Fear predominates in conversations about Gambia in the 1980s where in Wolof, they mental health issues. It is used in connection say denga mankeh — similar to ‘one missing to people’s perception and knowledge about a screw.’ the range of treatment options available. It When I arrived in the uk I experienced is linked to the spectre of being sectioned disorientation followed by a period of pro- under the Mental Health Act, of the police found sadness, and this was partly instru- being involved, of the effects of antipsychotic mental in my decision to train to become a medication, of stories of individuals with psychotherapist.