When theatre-maker and artist Lamine Sonko moved to Australia two decades ago, he carried more than just a suitcase; he carried a rite. Born into a lineage where the guewel is a custodian of sacred knowledge, Sonko’s initiation into this role became the foundation for his latest work, “Guewel,” inviting audiences to witness the preservation, sharing, and feeling of culture.
“Guewel” is not merely a show; it is a living transmission of West African cosmology, anchored in rhythm, song, and ritual, now unfolding on the Australian stage. “I hold on to the parts of my culture that I said goodbye to in West Africa; that’s what I brought here with me,” Sonko tells ABC Arts. This highly anticipated offering, which took seven years to develop, guides the audience through a theatrical experience that exemplifies why African storytelling invites an embodied audience experience.
A Cultural Convergence
“Guewel” marks Sonko’s directorial debut. At just 19, he was already a seasoned theatre practitioner, having toured France and Switzerland for five years with the National Theatre of Senegal. “When I arrived in Australia 20 years ago, I quickly learned that there were virtually no opportunities for African theatre-makers,” he says.
Despite his extensive experience, Sonko found that his artistic skills were not broadly recognized by the Australian creative industry. At one point, he was forced to make a temporary shift to teaching drumming to sustain himself financially. Sonko faced the challenge of navigating a new cultural landscape while remaining true to his roots, with “Guewel” creating connections between the traditional arts of Senegal and contemporary practices in Australia.
From Backstage to On Stage
Sonko grew up wandering the corridors and stages of the National Theatre of Senegal. His mother, Oumy Sene, was a celebrated dancer and cultural leader, while his father, Bouly Sonko, directed the theatre for more than two decades. Childhood memories are inseparable from significant works within the theatre’s lineage; for example, his father’s “Pangols” — lauded by The New York Times as an exploration of “the spiritual nature of all living things” — left an imprint that echoes in Sonko’s own explorations of cosmology and ritual form.
Before Sonko’s artistic interest was sparked by his involvement with the National Ballet of Senegal, where he learned the intricate dance forms and storytelling techniques that characterize Senegalese culture, he was ushered into this space at the tender age of seven as a guewel. He underwent a cultural initiation to become a custodian of sacred knowledge responsible for preserving and sharing the narratives of his people through songs, dance, and stories. He says these experiences will forever inform his work and the way he reads the world.
Everything is Connected
In “Guewel,” Sonko activates the audience’s curiosity by asking them to relearn their place among trees, stars, and deities through rhythm, performance, and ancestral dialogue. Sonko reframes cosmology — a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos — as Senegalese cosmovision: a holistic system teaching the interconnectedness of everything from the soil to the stars.
In “Guewel,” this cosmology materializes as a multi-sensory encounter: masks invoke the unseen world, rhythms carry sacred patterns, and choreography dramatizes the interdependence of humans, nature, and ancestors. The show presents Africa’s story beyond entertainment, spanning music, drumming, and dancing. It invites audiences to witness a culture that threads the cosmos through daily life and performance, expanding the Australian stage with a future-forward vision that is at once rooted, communal, and star-bound.
The show features ceremonial costumes and masks of intricate shapes paired with both traditional and contemporary music, dance, projection, and animation. Live musicians weave ancestral rhythms with progressive elements, while dancers move through ritual gestures and contemporary steps. Projections and animation enhance the stage, creating shifting landscapes that interact with the performers and amplify the storytelling.
The result is an immersive, embodied experience where breath, weight, and momentum are visible, inviting spectators to feel the narrative as it unfolds. As Sonko continues to bridge cultural gaps through his work, “Guewel” stands as a testament to the power of storytelling in connecting diverse worlds and traditions.
