Tragedy told through song
The show's short short season runs at the DUT Courtyard Theatre from 27 until 31 August nightly at 7.30pm.
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DR Pamela Tancsik adapts and directs Marikana to Mahagonny, a reworking of the masterful operatic songplay by German music makers, Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht.
Tancsik has adapted the opera to reference the Marikana tragedy- the aftermath of which is the opening scene – told through song set against the backdrop of the watershed documentary, Miners Shot Down, by Rehad Desai.
The lack of hope, social decay, moral collapse and focus on money above all else as referenced in the original opera struck a chord with Tancsik who draws comparisons with contemporary South Africa.
Kurt Julian Weill active from the 1920s, was a leading German composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht. Weill’s score uses a number of styles, including ragtime, jazz and formal counterpoint notably in Benares Song, and the Alabama Song.
The cast features DUT drama students.
It plays for a short season at DUT Courtyard Theatre from 27 until 31 August nightly at 7.30pm.
Buy tickets at the door or call 031 373 2194 to book.
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