Black T-Shirt Collection

“He unfurls, slow, like a dust flower, except, he is looking at his black shirt. Santana’s footprint: stamped on his chest; perfect stone crystals glinting in the grooves…”

From Fringe First winner Inua Ellams comes a new story about two foster brothers building a global T-shirt brand. On their journey from a market in Nigeria to a sweatshop in China, Matthew and Muhammed are forced to reconsider what brotherhood means and discover the consequences of success.

Poet and performer Inua Ellams was born in Nigeria in 1984, and moved to the UK as a teenager. He merges visual art, spoken word and theatre, to tell stories encompassing iconic imagery, humour and beauty.

“Ellams has an easy, laid-back charisma and pares poetic flair for narrative with admirable restraint.” **** Time Out

“As a performer, Ellams offers an easy intimacy, and the story tumbles out with a low-key virtuosity, the words falling skittishly over each other.” Lynn Gardner, The Guardian

“It’s a big piece for one man to take on, but [Ellams] is a vibrant, energetic storyteller.” A Younger Theatre

“This is no moralising gospel, but a questioning and compassionate story of brotherhood in a compromised world.” Exeunt Magazine

This event is commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre and developed with the support of the Arvon Foundation and the National Theatre.

Watch the trailer

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