Eshu at the Crossroads begins a three-venue London run on Saturday. The family production draws on Yorùbá myth and storytelling, using dance and puppetry to explore choice, uncertainty and discovery.
Theatre-Rites and Afro-Cuban choreographer Miguel Altunaga created the indoor production. It opens at The Albany in Deptford on 24 October, with performances at 10.30am and 1pm. It moves to CASA at Brixton House on 25 October for shows at 2pm and 5pm, before concluding at The Place on 27 October at 11am and 2pm.
Presented as part of Dance Umbrella Festival 2026, the work follows a traveller who reaches a mysterious crossroads and must decide which way to turn. A powerful rooster watches over the journey, while Eshu, presented as a playful and unpredictable trickster, introduces mischief, surprise and new possibilities.
The organisers describe the production as suitable for audiences aged five and above. Dance Umbrella lists a running time of 45 minutes without an interval, while The Place gives a range of 40 to 45 minutes. The production uses little or no spoken language, and The Albany says the story is intended to be followed equally by d/Deaf and hearing audiences.
Altunaga’s choreography draws on the cultural connections between Cuba and Yorùbá traditions carried across the Atlantic. He discussed the collaboration in an interview with A Young(ish) Perspective. Working with Theatre-Rites artistic director Sue Buckmaster let him consider movement beyond the human body. He described using dancers, puppets and objects in the same theatrical world.
He explained that the production does not place dance and puppetry in separate roles. Instead, the two forms influence each other, alongside music and physical theatre, as figures and objects appear, shift and transform before the audience.
Altunaga said the creative process began with research, curiosity and play rather than simplifying the material for children. He described Eshu and Eleggua as figures whose mischief and surprise can connect naturally with young audiences. His hope, he added, is that children and adults can share the same journey while finding different meanings in it.
The choreographer told the publication that “uncertainty does not necessarily mean we are lost”, a line that reflects the production’s central image of the crossroads as a place where a difficult decision can also open another path.
The production is directed by Buckmaster, with music by Domenico Angarano and puppets by Naomi Oppenheim. The 2026 cast comprises performers Xia Husbands, Edie Edmundson and Amari Webb-Martin. Theatre-Rites is known for creating theatre for children through puppetry, movement and site-responsive performance.
Eshu at the Crossroads began as Theatre-Rites’ first outdoor production in 2025. That version, created with Altunaga and supported by Without Walls, was commissioned by Stockton International Riverside Festival, Birmingham Weekender and Brighton Festival. It ran for about 30 minutes and toured outdoor festivals before being adapted for indoor theatres.
The London version expands the work for a conventional stage while retaining its combination of movement, music and puppetry. The production’s official material credits Dance Umbrella, The Albany, CASA at Brixton House and The Place as presenters of the indoor run.
Altunaga trained at Cuba’s National School of Art and spent six years as a principal dancer with the National Contemporary Dance Company. He joined Rambert in 2007 and later worked with Hofesh Shechter Company and Akram Khan Company. His choreography and movement work has included projects for Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, Rambert, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Carlos Acosta and The Royal Ballet.
The London run places a Yorùbá-rooted figure within a family theatre programme aimed at audiences from different cultural backgrounds. It also gives diaspora families an opportunity to encounter the crossroads story through contemporary performance rather than through a conventional lecture or heritage presentation.
Tickets for The Albany cost £12, with a four-ticket family offer of £40. Brixton House tickets begin at £11.40 for adults and £9.40 for children, before the listed booking charge. The Place currently lists standard adult tickets at £16 and child tickets at £12, with concessions and some lower-priced Dance Umbrella tickets. Availability may change as the performances approach.
The Albany is at Douglas Way, Deptford, while CASA is being presented at Brixton House on Coldharbour Lane. The final performances take place at The Place, 17 Duke’s Road. Families are advised to check the relevant venue page for live availability and access information before travelling.
