Music

Orpheus in Africa

From 27 Jan 2015 to 21 Feb 2015

The world premiere of David Kramer's new musical, Orpheus in Africa, a story about the African-American impresario Orpheus McAdoo and the South African tournee of his company, the Virginia Jubilee Singers in the 1890s. The singers arrived in the Cape thanks to an introduction in Scotland to the wife of the British governor general at the time.

Kramer, singer, song writer, playwright and director was an early opponent of apartheid and is one of the best-known figures of South Africa music and theatre. His 1986 musical District Six, which opened at the Baxter Theatre in 1987, was about the people in Cape Town's inner-city District Six, who were forceably relocated during apartheid. A DVD is now being released of his 2003 concert false;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNEUcK0R-kQ">Karoo Kitaar Blues, which brought to public attention the guitar-playing styles of the Karoo, a previously near-forgotten part of South Africa's musical heritage.