The 14th Tale

"I'm from a long line of trouble makers, of ash skinned Africans, born with clenched fists and a natural thirst for battle, only quenched by breast milk".

Growing up, from the clay streets of Nigeria to the rooftops of Dublin then finally London is a bit of a journey, but one chap used it to his advantage.

Inua Ellams, writer of The 14th Tale, explores the story of character that lived through similar experiences as the author himself. It is a free-flowing narrative that tells the hilarious life story of a Nigerian-born man and his journey to the UK.

Vivid and in-depth, Ellam's way of recreating his upbringing is both challenging and poetic. He makes his audience think of what it is to be young, black and a male in today's London. His on stage delivery solidifies his reputation as a true wordsmith.

"I've been known to write densely beautiful things with extended metaphors that requires you to pay attention,'' says Ellam, "but I so often go to poetry readings where half the audience are drunk or more interested in sleeping with the person beside them. Then there's chitter chatter – I got fed up of that and wanted to write something where people come expecting to be quiet for an hour."

Within the running time of 55-minuites Ellam has indeed created a piece where people are expected to watch in silence the entire way through. His fearless approach to wanting to do something different makes him ready for the mainstream world of entertainment. Although one wonders if there really is a growing enthusiasm for poetry in performance Ellam asserts that there is. "Part of me hopes the art form will never be that widespread, because as soon as something hits the mainstream it gets watered down."

Ellam his written poetry on a global scale, he says he found that easy because "it's more difficult to write about yourself and at the same time make it so that Joe Bloggs will be able to find something of himself in it".

The 14th Tale is a sharp reminder of the power of language and rhythm in theatre and of how dramatic poetry can create whole worlds through the voice of a single performer.

The 14th Tale' is a story which can relate to many Londoners today, but is it the journey in which some people have to come for a better life? Find out for yourself from now until 13 March, at The National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 9PX (Nearest train Waterloo). Adm: £10. Info: 0207 452 3000.

By Sinead Lewis

Off The Endz

Pics: Johan Persson

"My future is here. My aim is clear and simple. I want out. I wanna be rich. I'm not gonna pretend it's anything more than that and I want it now."

With a cast including Lorraine Burroughs, Daniel Francis and Ashley Walters Bola Agbaje's new play Off the Endz promises to deliver a strong message about the pressures of modern day living.

Her smart, savvy second play asks whether being out of the system might be just as good as being in it.

David, Kojo and Sharon grew up on a London estate. Now in their mid 20s, they're eyeing another kind of life. But how do you choose the right path when temptation lies around every corner? If you're emotional or financial debt is sky high, how do you buy your way out?

Daniel Francis, whose theatre credits include The Brothers Size and Sing Yer Hearts Out for the Lads, plays Kojo, a man determined to work his way towards a better life, despite the system working against him.

Ashley Walters, seen on BBC 1 last night in Andrea Levy's Small Island, plays the recently out of jail charmer, and Lorraine Burroughs plays his ex-girlfriend, and girlfriend of Kojo, Sharon.

Bola Agbaje's debut play Gone Too Far was performed at the Royal Court in 2007 as part of the Royal Court's Young Writers Festival, and won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement and was also nominated for Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Awards. Her other work includes If Things Were Different, In Time, Anything You Can Do for Soho Theatre and most recently Detaining Justice at the Tricycle Theatre.

Directed by Jeremy Herrin, Off the Endz plays from now until 13 March at Royal Court in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London. Mon-Sat 7.30pm. Adm: £10 - £25. Info: 020 7656 5000 / www.royalcourttheatre.com

Mummies and Daddies

A brutal, yet hilarious, insight into the soullessness of consumerism as a group of young professionals gather to celebrate the final summer of the twentieth century.

The evening is disrupted but enlivened by the undercurrent of violent disappointment between the warring host couple, the casual abuse of alcohol and drugs, and the imposition of a Phil Collins soundtrack.

What hopes do we have for the twenty-first century, if we can’t even be civil to the ones we love? What will we be worth if our friends can be bought and sold? And what will our children be like if parenthood becomes just a game of Mummies and Daddies?

Award-winning writer, Torben Betts’ works are published by Oberon Books and he has had recent productions at The Arcola Theatre (The Unconquered) and Riverside Studios (TheLunatic Queen).

Mummies and Daddies is directed by David Aula, artistic director of FallOut Theatre and will be the first production of a season of work to be presented at The White Bear Theatre. Aula has also been invited by White Bear to direct the world premier of John Osborne’s Personal Enemy, one of two Osborne plays censored and lost for over half a century by the Lord Chamberlain’s office, but found in the British Library last year. Due to The White Bear’s ongoing relationship with the Osborne estate they have secured the rights for performance in June 2010.

Personal Enemy - never before performed in its entirety and written with Anthony Creighton - is a sharp interrogation of small-town thinking and the tyranny of familial ‘love’. Set in the early 1950s in ‘Langley Springs, USA’, the play follows Mrs Constant, a mother and a pillar of the community, as her allegiance to her Country and her God is tested by her allegiance to her sons. Both the Constant boys are accused of being ‘communists’ and ‘homosexuals’, both put themselves in mortal danger for their beliefs and both ask for forgiveness and love from their mother.

FallOut Theatre is a dynamic company committed to the drama of aftermath, the beauty of chance, and the overwhelming energy of conflict: we like to see What Falls Out.

See Mummies and Daddies from now until Sunday 14 Feb at The White Bear Theatre 138 Kennington Park Road, London SE11 4DJ. Tue-Sat 7.30pm; Sunday 5.30pm. Adm: £13, conc £10. Info: 0207 793 9193 / www.thewhitebeartheatre.co.uk