Memory of Mandela deserves better than this
Mandela Trilogy Wales Millennium Centre
Despite its heartfelt subjectmatter and the colourful energy of its score, this proved a faintly depressing experience – not least because it serves as an implicit reminder of how South Africa under Jacob Zuma has brutally betrayed the principles embodied in the noble statesmanship of Nelson Mandela.
Better described as a piece of musical theatre than a full-blown opera, Mandela Trilogy is a revised version of a show first seen here in 2012, devised and performed by Cape Town Opera, a young company notable for nurturing some superb singers from township churches.
As its title suggests, it presents three snapshots of Mandela’s early life: first, his adolescence among the Thembu tribe in the Thirties; then his politicisation in Johannesburg in the Fifties; and finally his imprisonment on Robben Island and elsewhere.
Although historians would doubtless deem its version of events simplified, it seemed to me honourable in its intentions. But who is it aimed at? Aside from the choreographer, the creative and production teams are entirely white, and the opening night of its national tour at Cardiff ’s Wales Millennium Centre played to what looked like a 99.9 per cent Caucasian audience. This seems an irony worth remarking on.
Michael Williams has written the book and lyrics, as well as directing; the music of the first and third sections is composed by Peter Louis van Dijk, of the second by Mike Campbell. Both composers introduce ethnic touches, including some lively drumming, but the idiom is broadly that of Bernstein on Broadway: jazzy, punchy, pacey.
Overall, though, the performance felt mechanical. Too many of the performers seemed to be grinning and jiving and emoting by rote, and several fine voices (such as that of Philisa Sibek as Winnie) sounded tired. Aubrey Lodewyk made an urbane and engaging Mandela, with Thato Machona and Peace Nzirawa playing his younger selves.
It all seemed worn thin and old hat: for its next visit, can Cape Town Opera bring us something fresher? Until tomorrow, then touring to Royal Festival Hall SE1, Southampton, Dublin, Birmingham and Salford. Tickets: 029 2063 6464; www.wmc.org.uk