Shona The Musical Choir at Edinburgh Park, as part of the Edinburgh International Festival.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Shona, as Scottish a name as you can find, is also a tribal name in Africa and in this concert performance, the voices of Africa and Scotland blend in the richest of harmonies, akin to Ladysmith Black Mambazo or Paul Simon’s Graceland.
The musical, Shona, is still being formed and from what we saw and heard in the massive tent at Edinburgh Park, there is a rough diamond here well worth the polishing.
There were a couple of scenes from the show in development. One depicted President Robert Mugabe at the height of his power, appearing like a pastor to a congregation, calling for the land of Zimbabwe to be returned to the people. In the short segment, Mugabe’s charisma and harsh ruling style were clear to see.
Within the plot of Mugabe’s grip over Zimbabwe, the show tells a love story of an African young man sent to Edinburgh for education where he meets and ultimately marries an Edinburgh lass. These scenes hint not only at deep love, but perhaps tragedy, too.
The majority of the performance was of African traditional dance and song, evolving into more eclectic sounds with the backing of keyboards, conventional drums and three electric guitars. Most remarkable of all was the singing: complex, lush harmonies underpinned by an astonishingly good bass voice.
The warmth of reception from the audience was palpable. We can but hope that some day Shona, The Musical reaches its potential.
Fiona Orr
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