Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2012

It’s the dead of Japan’s summer—must be time to beat a drum right? But it’s not only taiko drums that are a Japanese summer tradition these days. For the last several years the African djembe has also been a Tokyo institution in the form of the South African drum spectacular Drumstruck. The show began as a corporate motivational performance before transforming into a full-scale stage production in 2002. The brainchild of Johannesburg entrepreneur Warren Lieberman, Drumstruck sees a crack team of African percussionists lead the audience on a participatory romp through the continent’s drumming traditions.

The Galaxy Theatre, Aug 14-26 (listing).