The Barbershop Chronicles

One day. Six cities. A thousand stories.

Following two sell-out runs at the National Theatre and a world tour, Inua Ellams’ acclaimed Barber Shop Chronicles comes to the Roundhouse this summer.

Newsroom, political platform, local hotspot, confession box, preacher-pulpit and football stadium. For generations, African men have gathered in barber shops to discuss the world. These are places where the banter can be barbed and the truth is always telling.

Directed by Olivier award-winning director Bijan Sheibani and designed by Rae Smith (War Horse), Barber Shop Chronicles is a heart-warming, hilarious and insightful new play that leaps from a barber shop in Peckham to Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Accra over the course of a single day.

Don’t miss this ‘joyous and life-affirming’ (Independent) smash-hit, beginning 18 July for a strictly limited season.

★★★★★ “Barber Shop Chronicles is a masterpiece” The Londonist

★★★★ “Inua Ellams’s brilliant drama stages a joyous takeover of the Roundhouse… brilliantly vivid, funny, moving drama” Time Out

★★★★ “Inua Ellams’ beautifully observed work is a pulsing and poetic delight” The Guardian

★★★★ “Inua Ellams’s enlightening and lively play” The Sunday Times

★★★★ “A thrilling piece of work” Evening Standard

★★★★ “Riotous theatre at its best” The Arts Desk

★★★★ “It’s a stimulating discussion rising from multiple conversations, an upbeat dialogue born from empathetic, real-life stories.” The Upcoming