The most remarkable fact of this powerfully moving evening is also the most simple: that Tshallo Chokwe, France Conradie, Bongeka Mpongwana, Phillip Tindisa and Jabulile Tshabalala are at the Barbican at all to tell their stories.
For these five talented performers grew up in the bad days of the old South Africa, when the beloved country made its black (non) citizens suffer on an almost hourly basis.
It is now 10 years since that momentous first democratic election, but director/writer Yael Farber is anxious that the horrors of the past are not forgotten.
Using the early life stories of her cast members as a base, she conjures an emotive theatrical memorial that skilfully manages to balance grief over wrongs suffered with optimism for a better future.
Until the final narration, Tshabalala's frantic account of running battles with the riot squad in the townships, apartheid-era politics are a shadowy yet persistent presence in the cast's lives.
Pressure mounts within families due to racial classification and forced relocation, but Farber astutely keeps the focus on the personal rather than the overtly political.
Haunting traditional songs and dance intersperse the words, and all we lack is the chance to ask each individual how they had the strength to turn something so bad into something so good.
Until Saturday. Information: 0845 120 7550.
Like Doves We Rise
