There’s no doubt, Francis Boua is a most engaging and entertaining personality and that personality was on full display in this show. But I confess to being disappointed at the end. I wanted more of a connection between the poems and the drumming. I feel that an exploration of the poetry through the drumming would be very rewarding for the audience. Francis tended to act out the poetry so crying (most believably) during sad bits and adding sound effects to illustrate other lines. The drum became almost incidental rather than central and organically connected to the lyrics and the stories being told through those lyrics. I say “lyrics” because the words of the poems felt closer to song lyrics than to poetry. There’s no negativity implied there since great song lyrics are as affecting and often more memorable than poetry.

The other aspect of the show that didn’t really work for me was the theatricality. There were, for example, many quite long sections of blackout during which Francis was rummaging amongst the props preparing for the next scene. I felt frustrated during those sections because nothing significant seemed to be happening to engage me. It’s quite normal now for costume changes etc to be done in full view of the audience. For the actors this has the added advantage of being able to see what they’re doing. I wonder if Francis has been working with a director to advise on the pacing and shape of the performance.

This show has great potential and clearly Francis has ambitions for it. I hope these few observations might be helpful.