IF ONLY all shows were structured like this one, watching a performance would be so much more complete. By opening with a documentary film that takes you to the heart of the performers' lives, you feel an instant connection with them when they walk o
n stage afterwards.
The singers and dancers standing before you are not just strangers here to entertain us – they are sisters, brothers, daughters and sons, each with their own heartaches and triumphs that we have become privy to.
Shot over six years by the show's producer, John Simpson, the film is a fascinating insight into the Zawose family. Fusing archive footage and present-day interviews, Simpson pays homage to Hukwe Zawose, one of East Africa's finest musicians until his untimely death in 2003. Signed to Peter Gabriel's Real World Records, Hukwe toured the world playing his unique instruments – all hand-made using such imaginative materials as telephone wires, car seat springs and spiders' webs.
With seven wives and 40 children, Hukwe's personal life at home in Tanzania was as colourful as his musical career on the road – all of which is captured by Simpson. Many of the family members went on tour with him, and although life without Hukwe has been hard, a small contingent is still taking his music to Europe and beyond – including two former trips to the Edinburgh Fringe.
Committed to ensuring the beautiful harmonies and infectious rhythms that typified Hukwe's music live on, the family are a living legacy of his work. And when the Zawoses appear on stage dressed in vibrant costumes and playing the same thumb pianos, Tanzanian harps and drums seen in the film, you know that Hukwe would be proud.
• Until 30 August. Today 2pm
