Fringe Music and Cabaret
We Are, Just Festival at St John’s, four stars
Never Mind the Gap, the Space at Surgeons Hall, three stars
Rob Adams
We Are comes in two sizes. There’s the “unplugged” version, comprising three drummer-percussionist-singer-storytellers, and the full-on, big show – and if the former is anything to judge by, full-on, big and captivating all seem to be guaranteed in the latter.
In St John’s studio we’re welcomed into a world of rhythm, where kit drums, djembes and talking drum create the grooves and incidentals for stories about the three women’s inspirations. Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on the bus and Miriam Makeba’s exile from apartheid-era South Africa, while not shirking on the disgraceful treatment and horrendous attitudes they endured, become celebrations of strong characters that ultimately involve the audience in chanted, vibrant and unforced pieces of collective action.
It’s a spiritual, uplifting experience as the trio, all members of Los Angeles troupe Adaawe, introduce elements from their ancestral culture and live up to their name – Adaawe being a Ghanian tradition where women gather in the moonlight to create music and songs that reflect life’s sorrows and joys.
Never Mind the Gap contains songs and magic that, at first, seem quite separate but ultimately work together in a cunning finale. It isn’t – and doesn’t pretend to be - the slickest of productions and the promised Wheelchair Sex (a song, not a demonstration, we’re cheekily reassured) succumbs to technical difficulties. But there’s an appealing honesty involved and the mind reading element, from which you might not be able to escape, combines a roguish, throw-away, not to say casually expletive-strewn, presentation with strangely accurate results.
Both shows end August 25.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here