THE AFRICAN PASSION at Baxter Theatre Centre

The African Passion is a brand-new gospel opera, funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, which is touring South Africa in March/April 2013 to celebrate Easter.

The opera is unique in that it deals with the Passion of Christ in an African gospel style. It tours with 18 professional performers and 6 musicians, and will collaborate with community choirs in each region to make up the rest of the cast. The opera will be a spectacle set against a state-of-the-art audio-visual backdrop, with excellent lighting and sound.

The libretto is written by Themi Venturas, and the music is an original composition by several composers, including Phelelani Mnomiya (Ziyankomo, the opera), the Young Mbazo (Babuyile Shabalala, Sphamandla Shabalala and Jabulani Mthembu) and Antony Govender.