The Nelson Mandela Trilogy

The Mandela Trilogy | Southbank Theatre Show

Nelson Mandela.

He might be the first politician in history that people actually miss.

So it’s no bad thing that now – for four all too brief days start at the end of this month – you can see his whole life played out at the Southbank Centre, thanks to the Cape Town Opera and the Wales Millennium Centre.

The trilogy will be, uncontroversially, in three parts, each following a different key stage of Mandela’s life, and with a different actor taking the lead role, and a different style of music underscoring it all. You will see,

HIS EARLY YEARS

You’ll see the man’s tribal initiation rites on the banks of the Mbashe River, all scored with authentic Xhosa folk music.

HIS REBELLIOUS DAYS

The term “rebellious” is used rather loosely here, but this part of his life covers the jazz-fueled, underground days in Sophiatown, then the subsequent incarceration on Robben Island.

HIS FREEDOM

And the massive, seismic political movement he was responsible for, with a soundtrack of contemporary opera.

There’ll be a cast and orchestra of over 60 South African performers, and the whole thing has been specially adapted for the Royal Festival Hall.

And it’s one thing you’d be a fool to miss.

NOTE: Performances of Mandela Trilogy take place at the Royal Festival Hall from Wednesday 31 August to Saturday 3 September at 7.30pm. Tickets are available HERE. 

The Southbank Centre | Belvedere Rd, SE1 8XX

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