Eshu at the Crossroads

Last Updated on October 28, 2026

A Vibrant Family Adventure Combining Dance and Puppetry

5.0 out of 5.0 stars

Eshu at the Crossroads is what happens when three multi-talented performers, a few beguiling puppets and a lot of imagination come together in a show for the entire family – in the afternoon performance I attended at The Place, both children and adults were rapt for the performance’s entire 45-minute duration.

Part of Dance Umbrella 26, Eshu at the Crossroads is a collaboration between Cuban-British choreographer Miguel Altunaga and the puppetry company Theatre-Rites, which specialises in immersive productions for family audiences, and whose artistic director, Sue Buckmaster, is credited with directing the show.

With no words spoken, it relies on movement and the interaction between humans and puppets to tell a simple, yet engaging, tale that draws from Cuban Yorubic culture, myth and storytelling. It’s the tale of a traveller who reaches a crossroads, and there has to decide which way to go. Our traveller is watched by a colourful rooster and later meets the trickster spirit Eshu, going through a number of adventures before meeting the goddess who sends her (or it could be him) on their way.

The crossroads sign with arrows pointing in all different directions is the sole prop we see on the stage as we take our seats to the sound of Cuban music, including a track from the very famous collection Buena Vista Social Club. Then the traveller, dancer Zia Husbands, bounds onto the stage and immediately engages with the little ones, waving at some, climbing the stairs of the auditorium, shaking hands, making faces, in short, expertly warming up her audience. The irrepressible Husbands is simply delightful: on stage throughout, with her immensely expressive, mobile face and energetic dancing, she carries the show.

Which is not to say that she is alone. We first see puppeteer Edie Edmundson, herself a mean mover, and dancer Amari Webb Martin, who doubles as a puppeteer, as two figures in long black robes, their faces covered by fringed veils, who seem to be shadows dogging the traveller’s progress. But as the traveller picks a route only to find it’s the wrong one, a splendid rooster puppet appears, crowing away in a welcome that soon turns into anger as the traveller steals one of its flamboyant red plumes. The rooster pecks at the traveller before being taken away and making way for Eshu.

This central scene is superb. Amari Webb Martin has now lost his shadow costume and comes on as a dancer. The scene involves a complicated struggle for a red and black coat, which both he and the traveller want, and culminates with the arrival of Eshu, another impressive puppet, whose face is split down the middle between red and black.

A duet between the traveller and Eshu is a marvel of illusion, with Zia Husbands’s legs at times appearing to belong to Eshu’s torso. Eshu really is the trickster spirit.

Eshu at the Crossroads is beautifully paced, so that fast-moving sections give way to slower, more meditative moments, pleasantly framed by Domenico Angarano’s score, which keeps its Cuban accents, even as it becomes an unobtrusive bed for the movement. Amelia Fenwick’s lighting design creates the requisite atmosphere at all times, and the costumes add colour and vibrancy to the show’s visuals.

Eshu at the Crossroads had only a handful of performances during Dance Umbrella 26, but deserves to return again and again, and I hope it will. I certainly enjoyed it a lot, and clearly so did the kiddies in the audience and their grown-ups.

Eshu at the Crossroads was at The Place on 27 October at 11.00 am and 2.00 pm
Dur.: 40-45 mins Tickets: £12 (adults), £10 (children)

The Place
17 Duke’s Road
London WC1H 9PY

For more dance suggetions check out our London Dance Previews – July to December 2026