Homegrown Opera for Local Voices in Cape Town Opera's FOUR:30 at the Artscape Theatre

Cape Town Opera's FOUR:30, presented in collaboration with UCT Opera School, pairs up four notable South African composers with four acclaimed writers to create half hour works that are powerful and innovative, telling contemporary African stories in imaginative new ways. Opera goers can enjoy a more intimate experience that is usually expected from opera, with seating on the Artscape Theatre stage itself rather than in the auditorium.

The four new homegrown operas that make up FOUR:30 incude "The Application", "Blood of Mine", "Bessie: The Blue-Eyed Xhosa" and "Anti-Laius".

"The Application", with music by Robert Fokkens and libretto by Laurence Allan, is directed by Geoffrey Hyland. Mrs Makeleni needs a passport. Her grandson was born and raised in the United Kingdom after her son emigrated, and she has never met him - indeed, she has never left South Africa. Now she wants to travel to his wedding, and must apply to Home Affairs for her first ever passport - a process which proves rather more troublesome than expected.

Hyland also directs "Anti-Laius", which teams up composer Adrian More with librettist Joan Hambidge. "Anti-Laius" reflects on violence in its different manifestations and the mythological story of King Oedipus is used to represent the strife between father and son, between creative person and opponent. French history and the recent Charlie Hebdo attack form the backdrop of the story narrated by a choir and two characters. The opera reflects on the death of Deon van der Walt, the famous South African tenor, who after his death is idealized as a pure operatic tragic character singing for a table in heaven.

In the 1730s-set "Bessie: The Blue-Eyed Xhosa", an unknown East Indiaman smashed to pieces on the reefs of Lambasi Bay on South Africa's Wild Coast. The next morning the local inhabitants stumbled upon Bessie, a seven-year-old English girl huddled beside a rock on the beach. She was not the first to be shipwrecked on these treacherous shores. Many before her had starved to death and some had walked hundreds of miles to trading posts. But these locals chose to take Bessie home and bring her up as one of their own. She grew to be a woman of legendary beauty and wisdom, eventually becoming the great wife of a prince. So began the enduring legacy of a dynasty that extends to many of today's Xhosa royal families. With a score by Angelique Mouyis and libretto by Mkhululi Mabija, "Bessie: The Blue-Eyed Xhosa" is directed by Marcus Tebogo Desando.

Finally, "Blood of Mine" sets a Janice Honeyman libretto to a score by Sibusiso Njeza. In a small village in Botswana, a devoted wife, Sethunya and her macho cattle farmer husband, Ntsimane, are unable to conceive. There is huge pressure on the couple to start a family. Sethunya is accused of not being able to bear children and is shunned by the community. She prays fervently to fall pregnant. Fortuitously, she falls pregnant, and her prayers are finally answered - but years later it is revealed that Ntsimane is not the father of the child. In a male dominated world, and contrary to the community's belief, it was in fact Ntsimane who was unable to have children and not Sethunya. So who is the father of this child? "Blood of Mine" is a poignant story of reality, tragedy, humour and pain, and will also be directed by Desando.

Conductor Kamal Khan hopes that FOUR:30 will create opportunities for local voices to sing local music:

We must constantly create new operas. There are so many exciting new singers being discovered in South Africa, but what will they sing? They should be able to sing their own stories.

The project has been made possible by a grant from the National Lotteries Commission which Cape Town Opera has used to fund the creation of new works and develop opera in rural areas in 2015. FOUR:30 is also supported by Rand Merchant Bank, the Western Cape Government Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport and Business and Arts South Africa. Cape Town Opera's Managing Director, Michael Williams, says:

It's wonderful that Cape Town Opera and the UCT Opera School are investing time, money and effort into developing a revitalised repertoire by constantly feeding it with fresh inspiration. These little 'bonsai operas' are a great way of appealing to new audiences and developing new voices. It is a thrilling challenge to strip opera down to the essentials: story, music and voice.

FOUR:30 runs from 25-28 November in the Artscape Theatre. R200 will buy you a ticket to the opera as well as cheese and wine during the interval. Opera tickets only are priced at R170 and can be purchased online at Computicket as well as at all Computicket outlets

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