Cape Town Opera Company's 'Mandela Trilogy'

1. Cape Town Opera's Mandela Trilogy

“He lived, literally, in a mud hut. He was the surrogate son of chief and he went through the initiation rights of every Khoisan man and that meant isolation in the bush, circumcision in the raw and he was also given a bride which was part of the tradition. He also turned down the arranged marriage, stole two of the chief’s cattle and hived off to Johannesburg. Speaking to Classic FM, the opera's writer Michael Williams said of the first act: “That aspect of his earlier life really intrigued me. And so the first act is about the young man who is at once traditional but is at the same time aware that beyond those green hills is the giant that is stirring and he needs to be a part of that; his destiny does not lie in the hills of the Transkai.”

2. Mandela Trilogy - Act 1

L-R: Xolela Sixaba as Chieftan and Thato Machona as a young Mandela in the Eastern Cape

3. Siphamandla Yakupa (Mandela’s mother) and Thato Machona (young Mandela) Act 1

A young Mandela receives strong words from his mother in Act 1 of Mandela Trilogy

4. Tshepo Moagi

A praise singer played by Tshepo Moagi during Act 1 of Mandela Trilogy, which takes place in the Eastern Cape

5. Siphamandla Yakupa

Siphamandla Yakupa plays Nelson Mandela's mother in Act 1

6. Members of Cape Town Opera (Act 1)

Act 1 of the Mandela Trilogy depicts Mandela’s traditional upbringing in the Eastern Cape

7. Cape Town Opera's Mandela Trilogy

A young Mandela (Thato Machona – centre) leaves the Transkei at the end of Act 1

8. Gloria Bosman as Dolly Rathebe

Gloria Bosman plays Dolly Rathebe, a successful musician and actress from South Africa

9. Aubrey Poo as Mandela

Aubrey Poo as Mandela in Act 2 of Mandela Trilogy, which depicts the turbulent but heady atmosphere of the townships at the onset of Apartheid

10. Aubrey Poo and Philisa Sibeko

Nelson Mandela (Aubrey Poo) and his wife Winnie (Philisa Sibeko) in Johannesburg. Winnie was Mandela's second wife, and they remained married throughout Mandela's imprisonment.

11. Members of Cape Town Opera

The second act of Mandela Trilogy deals with Mandela’s life in the environs of the city and it’s here that different types of music come into play. Writer Michael Williams explained: “When he gets to Johannesburg, it’s the 1950s. It’s the music of Miriam Makeba, it’s the music of Hugh Masakela, it’s the jive, it’s the American influence of jazz and blues coming in to the townships,” elaborates Williams. “It just seemed to me that the second act would become a jazz musical that looks at his life as a lawyer and his relationships with three different women.”

12. Members of Cape Town Opera

An ensemble of singers make a big sound for Cape Town Opera's Mandela Trilogy

13. Members of Cape Town opera at the shebeen

A late night party takes place at the shebeen in act 2 of Mandela Trilogy. A shebeen was originally an illicit bar or club where alcohol was sold without a licence