Playing currently at The Blue Room Theatre, An Evening of African Poetry and Storytelling is a celebration of the journeys endured and the hardships overcome to arrive at a place of community and belonging. As friends gather in a lounge room we go through each of theirs stories and relations to the world around them, either individual recounts of their struggles to get where they are, or broader scope deconstructions of colonialism, racism, or capitalism.
The show begins in the bar, Kuda joined by Ridge on guitar, livens the audience up, preparing us for the musical feast we are about to consume. He hands around an assortment of percussive instruments and invites us to join in a rhythm call and response with him as he explains the night and gives us the pre-show warnings. We are invited into the space as the remaining cast are gathered around their lounges and the vibe is already clear, an intimate, homely, and inviting place of story.
An Evening of African Poetry and Storytelling. Photography by Apurva Gupta.
Told through song or spoken word the cast go through, one-by-one, sometimes solo, sometimes in duet or ensemble, and speak their peace. Diving deep into chronic social injustices and colonial nightmares ravaging huge swaths of land they had called home. Their poetry is full of imagery, it takes you through their frustrations, their loves, and their worlds. The whole cast is full of intensely talented story-tellers who are gorgeously captivating. The show itself is broken up with moments of theatrical beats where we hear from ancestor spirits communicating to the cast to live through their moments and the cast join in these moments together playing as ‘characters’ of themselves on stage. I would not say the straight acting of these scenes were the performers strong suit and did really kill the momentum for me, but, these scenes were few and far between and were immediately followed by stellar performances.
An Evening of African Poetry and Storytelling. Photography by Apurva Gupta.
A few specific shout outs for some incredible talent: Kat Johnston behind the lighting design delivered some extremley striking and seamless design that sucked you into their world to an intense degree. Tao and Ridge were the main musical accompaniment, Ridge had a beautiful melodic and rhythmic dance to his style and Tao on percussion was powerful and effective in underscoring the powerful lyrics, you wouldn’t help but move alongside the beat. All the performers had gorgeous and entrancing voices but a special shout out for Veronikka Habieb, who, in her own solo moments punched through with powerful prose but even in ensemble moments she belts through long and high runs that leave you astounded.
I’m so incredibly glad we get to hear and see such incredibly diverse and powerful voices in the theatre scene and I am so incredibly excited to see where ‘The Outsiders’ continue on their journey. An absolute must-see.
An Evening of African Poetry & Storytelling is on at The Blue Room Theatre from September 11-21.