Sikulu Company

There is a joyous confusion at the heart of The Journey, presented by the Sikulu Company as a voyage through the recent history of South Africa. It would be easy, and not altogether wrong, to suggest that it's the African forerunner of Riverdance, except that here the costumes are better; the tempting similarity lies in the unsparing totemic rhythms, the heightened pulse which maintains an energy which could be called 'raw' were it not shaped with such sophistication.

The confusion is due to the fact that history is not clear-cut, and a musical interpretation of a nation's recovery of itself cannot be a simple rendition. So here the action begins in a tribal village and moves to the seedy side of city life, to the gospel hall, the drugs squat, the shebeen, the street protest and back to the homelands again. Tribal blues, in fact - the gamut from immemorial rhythms to boogie nights. This is a cultural journey and the narrative moves easily through the several musical languages employed by the direction team headed by Peter Lefika, Andy Chabeli (of 'Ipi Tombi' fame), Ray Molefe, Sam Mhangwani and others.

The Journey is at the Waterfront, Belfast, until Saturday and at The Olympia, Dublin, from March 10th to 21st.