MEDIATHEK

It’s six o’clock in the morning. A young man kisses a girl, then runs away. The police arrive…

“Comfort Ye” is a new work of music theatre in which young people from a community near Cape Town tell their own stories. Featuring a cast of South African professional singers and actors, a baroque/ jazz chamber orchestra, and young singer/ actors from the choir of Bloekombos Secondary School, Kraaifontein, “Comfort Ye” is directed by an international team assembled by Umculo for this production. A year and a half in the making, “Comfort Ye” was born at writing workshops held in Kraaifontein in November/ December 2013. The stories told and the songs written by the young choir members became the basis for this new work.

Music by George Frederick Handel (from "The Messiah" and "L'Allegro, il pensieroso ed il moderato", Berlin-based Australian composer Catherine Milliken, and the young singers combine with words to make a gritty, emotional work based on contemporary issues. The result is an intimate performance about the harsh challenges faced by Cape Town’s disadvantaged young people today. In a world of violence, abuse, crime and mistrust, where do we find hope? This dark story, full of ambiguity and shadow, finds its way to an optimistic conclusion.

The world premiere performance of “Comfort Ye”, which has received international invitations (funding pending), took place at Artscape’s Drama Theatre on 6 March, 2015. German stage director and librettist Robert Lehmeier, Australian composer and educationalist Catherine Milliken, Vienna-based Swedish conductor Warwick Stengards and Johannesburg lighting designer Michael Maxwell joined forces with mentor Fatima Dike, choir conductor Siyabulela Sulelo, and harpsichordist Erik Dippenaar to create this performance.

Founded in 2010, Umculo is an international music organisation that supports lasting social change through music in South Africa. For further information, see www.umculo.org