Search Party with Inua Ellams

Pick a word, any word. Prompted by audience suggestions, Inua Ellams will search through his extensive archive of work and perform a reactive and spontaneous selection. Each show is unique and special.

A man walks into a room with his life in his hands. He is the internationally acclaimed artist and playwright Inua Ellams (Barber Shop Chronicles, The Half God of Rainfall) and he has filled thousands of pages in an ongoing attempt to be heard, to give his genius wings that can travel. Every word he’s ever written is captured, all the poems and plays and essays, the drafts of projects abandoned and works as yet unknown, indexed, rendered as binary, and waiting patiently within the confines of the electronic tablet he’s holding even now.

Search Party is an act of call and response that hearkens back to the birth of storytelling. At this uniquely futuristic and puckishly chaotic interactive event, the artist couldn’t be more present. He’s inviting you to join the work. What do you say?

Written and performed by Inua Ellams. Born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother in what is now considered by many to be Boko Haram territory, in 1996 Inua left Nigeria for England aged 12, moved to Ireland for three years, before returning to London and starting work as a writer and graphic designer. He is a fellow of The Royal Society of Arts and The Royal Society of Literature, and board member of The Royal Society of Literature, The Poetry Translation Centre, Complicite Theatre and Cheltenham Literature Festival. In 2023, He was honoured with an MBE for Services to the Arts, and an Honorary Doctorate from University of the Arts, London.

Quotes

“Like his theatrical work, Search Party shows Ellams’s versatility and fearlessness as an artist who’s willing to take risks, especially in a show like this, which by its nature will never be the same twice.” - Theatre Mania

“He impressed us with his talent as a performer, with his genuine love of theater, and his unique gift of bonding with an audience.” - Theatre Pizzazz

“Welcoming, soft-spoken, ultra-casual… but Search Party is… the work of an immensely erudite, multifaceted, and busy artist... His poetry is thoughtful, tender, and muscular.” - Vulture.

“It’s a luxury to hear Ellams… I highly recommend. Go hang with him.“ - New York Times

Host or Publisher Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics