As a musical celebration of 200 years of Haitian independence, Vodou Nation is a theatrical coup that has been overtaken by a real one. The show's creator, Brett Bailey, found himself stranded in Port-au-Prince as president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was deposed in February of this year; and it was touch-and-go as to whether the 17-strong Haitian cast was going to make it to Britain at all.
With Aristide now domiciled in South Africa, UN troops installed on the island and flash floods claiming upwards of 2,500 lives, it doesn't seem quite the right time to party, and there are aspects of this bizarre carnival-in-exile which feel distinctly out of joint.
Bailey's original idea, realised in association with the pre-eminent choreographer of Caribbean spectacle, Geraldine Connor, was to celebrate the indomitable spirit of the Haitian people and the extraordinary, little-understood religion, Vodou. The material is broadly shaped into an allegorical pageant evoking the rise and fall of an imaginary dictator: yet given current circumstances it is hard to be sure if the sight of a Mephistophelean caricature cavorting around in a crimson, tin-foil uniform represents a boldly satirical move or an embarrassingly crass miscalculation.
The musical performances are unquestionably superb, however. The thrilling accompaniment comes courtesy of the Vodou rock band RAM whose leader, Richard Morse, runs Haiti's legendary Oloffson hotel, immortalised by Graham Greene in The Comedians, and also inspiration for Ian Fleming, Tennessee Williams and the creator of the Addams Family.
The presence of rocking Vodou hotelier Morse, imposingly tall with mirrored shades and swinging blue dreadlocks, adds a further level of surrealism to a show which you may not have thought could become any stranger. Vodou Nation is theatrically flawed and unfortunately timed but as piece of positive PR it could hardly be bettered. And right now Haiti could do with all the positive PR it can get.
· Until June 26. Box office: 0113-213 7700. Then touring.
