Magic of Mysteries tour de force

Broomhill Opera created The Mysteries (with Vumile Nomanyama, below). They're an English company based at Wilton Music Hall. I've done a couple of translations for them, including Carmen last year for the South African company. Their plan was to go to South Africa and create a company of singers and dancers, then do a season out there. But on arrival, instead of taking performers from opera houses, they chose the cast mainly from communities near Cape Town and also from townships throughout South Africa. The cast came together and bonded through the medium of this extraordinary show.

The first production was to be a musical, but there were problems with the royalties. So instead of giving up on the whole project, they invented an entirely new thing - a South African version of The Mystery Plays. Prosaically it's a re-working of the Chester Mystery Plays but really it's a celebration of common heritage, because it's basically a creation of the Bible story and the whole religious journey from that time onwards. The production team drove a real coach and horses through segregation. Someone described it as 'the Rainbow Nation on stage' which is a good way of putting it.

Broomhill Opera turned a conventional musical into something with industrial instruments including rubbish bins, so what you have is an extraordinary feast of music, voice, energy and enthusiasm. I don't think the cast know how powerful they are. I saw the show in Cape Town, and it was extraordinary. Go with no pre-conceptions and prepare to enjoy something that is about the human spirit and about creation. It's a good antidote to cynicism.

The Mysteries