Opera staged in deepest Africa

Owen Metsileng and Nobulumko Mngxekeza during dress rehearsal. Picture / Dean Purcell

Verdi’s Macbeth uprooted from 11th century Scotland

Congolese refugees, gun-toting warlords, multinational double-dealing and glittering Chinese imports are not things one would immediately associate with the opera.

But from tonight, an extraordinary adaptation of Verdi's Macbeth will take Auckland Arts Festival-goers on a journey that uproots the opera's characters from 11th century Scotland and takes them to the jungles of contemporary Central Africa to recreate Shakespeare's tale of witchcraft, murder and revenge.

South African director and artist Brett Bailey's production explores the chaos unleashed when Macbeth and his wife kill a king and seize his crumbling African province. Bailey yesterday intently watched the dress rehearsal.

The group of 10 African opera singers are led by the Macbeths (Owen Metsileng and Nobulumko Mngxekeza), as they re-create an absurd world of bad taste, evil and excess, featuring dodgy businessmen, ethnic conflict, brutal militia and "blood minerals" - at the ASB Theatre tonight, tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday.

The production, which was conceived in the early 2000s for a theatre in Cape Town, is fresh from a European tour.

The festival's creative director, Carla van Zon, said Macbeth was a must-see performance.

"When David [Inns, festival chief executive] and I saw Macbeth in Vienna we came out of the performance saying, 'This is a show we have to get to Auckland.' We were blown away by it.

"Like iTMOi and I AM, Macbeth shows artists at the height of their careers - all of them are must see-shows."

Ms van Zon said that since the festival opened on March 4, everything had run without a hitch.

"The feedback has been phenomenal - from audiences, New Zealand artists and international artists alike. New Zealand works have attracted some of the highest praise ... And the international artists are blown away by New Zealand, Auckland, Aucklanders, and the calibre of talent and shows on display."

She said tickets for the festival were selling well, though some were still available for longer-running show seasons.

• After tomorrow night's performance of Macbeth, stick around for a post-show talk with the artists.