Story of South Africa's 'mother of the nation' and Nelson Mandela's former wife to open next year in Pretoria
Carmen, Tosca and Madam Butterfly have all received the treatment. So has Jerry Springer. Why not, then, the tragic heroine of South Africa in Winnie ? the Opera?
The tumultuous life story of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of Nelson Mandela and flawed icon of the struggle against racial apartheid, is to be told in an opera at South Africa's State theatre.
Publicity for the show, which receives its world premiere in Pretoria next April, reads: "She gave voice to a time. She gave voice to a place. She gave voice to a people. Love her or hate her ? but come and hear her."
Winnie is believed to be the first opera fully composed and orchestrated in South Africa. The historic language of the form, Italian, will be jettisoned in favour of a libretto combining English and Xhosa, with a 60-piece orchestra performing a fusion of western and traditional African music.
While an opera about Nelson Mandela might risk hagiography, his former wife's life invites moral ambiguity. During the apartheid era, she was convicted of kidnapping 14-year-old activist Stompie Moeketsi, who was subsequently murdered by a member of her bodyguard.
She separated from Mandela in 1992 after details of her infidelity emerged. In 2003, she was convicted of more than 40 charges of fraud. For many, however, she remains a defining figure in the struggle against the apartheid government and, now an MP, is regularly introduced by ANC officials as "the mother of the nation".
Warren Wilensky, producer and librettist of Winnie ? the Opera, said of her story: "I don't think it gets any better. She is the perfect operatic character. The highs and lows of her life are too big for a normal dramatic story." He promised a warts and all portrait, adding: "It's not about a grand heroine, it's about real life and humanity. She was there at a difficult time with no support and came to personify the struggle. We're trying to tell a fully-rounded story that I don't think has been told before."
He said the opera opens with a barrage of accusations against Madikizela-Mandela at the post-apartheid truth and reconciliation commission, with the international media in the role of a Greek chorus.
One character who does not appear is Mandela. "We thought he would overpower the story," Wilensky said. "In one line she asks, 'Nelson, where are you?' "That's a theme throughout ? where is Nelson?"
The opera, composed by Bongani Ndodana-Breen, reflects a surge of cultural interest in Madikizela-Mandela. Earlier this year, British actor Sophie Okonedo played her in the BBC drama Mrs Mandela. Next year Hollywood star Jennifer Hudson takes the title role in the film Winnie.
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