SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

 Cape Town Opera's First UK Tour: Porgy and Bess in Cardiff, London and Edinburgh(BK)

“When our cast sings Porgy and Bess,  they sing from the heart because it means something to them.” (Michael Williams, Cape Town Opera's Company Manager)


More than seventy years since it premiered, the story of Gershwins’ opera Porgy and Bess still finds contemporary resonance in modern-day South Africa where life in many communities is rife with violence, drugs, unemployment, poverty and class segregation. For its first ever UK tour Cape Town Opera is bringing a production with a very personal emotional relevance. Cape Town Opera’s creative team ( Christine Crouse (artistic manager), Peter Cazalet and Michael Mitchell (designs),Kobus Rossouw (lighting) David Charles-Abell (conductor)  has taken its inspiration from depictions of township life in Soweto during the 1960s leading up to the disbanding of the apartheid system – a time when music-making on the streets and in bars was part of a seemingly contented everyday life. Gambling was also a favourite pass time and richer swanky township bosses engaged in all sort of extra ‘business’. The Catfish Row of Cape Town Opera’s production mirrors those times and also urban areas of South Africa today where it is still not unusual for a whole community to “hijack” derelict buildings.  Cape Town Opera is South Africa’s only repertory opera company and celebrated its tenth anniversary in May 2009, having survived a decade as a non-profit organisation with no annual subsidy from the national government.

Tour details:

Wales Millennium Centre: Cardiff Bay, Cardiff 21-24 October

Four evening performances at 7.30pm plus 2 matinees at 2pm on Thursday and Saturday. Tickets £18 to £32 and free pre-show talks 22-24 October. Box Office T. 08700 40 2000. Web Site: www.wmc.org.uk

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall :London 26 & 27 October

7.00pm (2 semi-staged concert performances, part of the International Voices series) Tickets £9 to £42 Box Office T. 0871 663 2500. Web site: www.southbankcentre.co.uk

Edinburgh Festival Theatre:  Nicolson St, Edinburgh 30-31 October. Two evening performances at 7.30pm plus 2pm matinee Sat 31 Oct. Tickets £17.00 - £39.50 Box Office T. 0131 529 6000 Web Site: www.eft.co.uk

The opening performance in Cardiff will be reviewed in Seen and Heard.

Bill Kenny