Cape Town Opera SHORTS Festival 2025: Here’s the Lineup of Fresh Mini Operas

Cape Town Opera returns with an exciting new festival, SHORTS: A Festival of Short Operas!, at The Wave Theatre from Friday 7 March to Sunday 16 March 2025. This marks the company’s first-ever event at this intimate venue, bringing audiences a fresh and accessible take on opera with bite-sized productions, each lasting an hour or less.

This festival in Cape Town is ideal for both opera lovers and newcomers. Featuring thrilling one-act operas, SHORTS combines world-renowned works with innovative new libretti. Audiences can enjoy a variety of stories in a single evening, making opera more accessible than ever.

Directors Fred Abrahamse and Marcel Meyer

A Stellar Lineup of Local and International Talent

Directed by Fred Abrahamse, Marcel Meyer, Jackï Job, Christine Crouse, and Victoria Stevens, each opera in the festival is crafted by some of the most brilliant minds in the industry.

With musical direction by Jan Hugo, Jeremy Silver, and José Dias, the festival boasts an impressive cast of CTO singers and guest artists, including William Berger, Siphamandla Moyake, Nonhlanhla Yende, Alida Scheepers, Clara Hugo, and Opera UCT performers.

A Perfect Evening Out in the CBD

Set in the vibrant Long Street in CBD, The Wave Theatre is surrounded by trendy restaurants and bars, making it ideal for pre- or post-show drinks and dining. Parking is very limited and Ubering to the venue is recommended. There are festival packages, including all performances, at just R600, with single tickets available from R160 via Webtickets.

Cape Town Opera Shorts Programme

Triptych: Women at War – 8 to 16 March

Triptych brings together three distinct works into a powerful hour of operatic brilliance, where each piece, or ‘panel,’ engages in a thought-provoking dialogue with the others.

This trio of works is bound by the evocative theme of women in relation to war—sometimes literal, sometimes metaphorical. Each panel presents a dramatic and musical tour-de-force for the three remarkable sopranos bringing them to life.

The works include King Harald’s Saga by Judith Weir based on on the historical event of the Norwegian Invasion of England in 1066 and chronicles the defeat of King Harald at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

A Letter from Sullivan Ballou by renowned composer John Kander was composed in 1994 and is set to the poignant letter written by Major Sullivan Ballou to his wife, Sarah, in 1861, just before he was killed in the First Battle of Bull Run.

The third piece is Erwartung by Arnold Schoenberg that tells the story of an unnamed Woman who ventures through a dark forest under the light of the moon, searching desperately for her lover. As she stumbles further into the unknown, the line between reality and madness blurs.

cape town opera shorts Bluebeard’s Castle, Béla Bartók

Bluebeard’s Castle, Béla Bartók – 7 to 15 March

Judith leaves behind her peaceful life to become the bride of Bluebeard, stepping into his dark, enigmatic castle – a place shrouded in ominous rumours that mirror its mysterious owner. Driven by love and a desire to brighten Bluebeard’s shadowed world, Judith is determined to uncover his secrets.

The castle holds seven locked rooms, and despite Bluebeard’s reluctance, Judith insists on opening each door. With every door, the mystery intensifies, drawing her deeper into a darkness from which there may be no escape. At the final door, her fate is irrevocably sealed.

cape town opera shorts Bluebeard’s Castle, Béla Bartók (1)

Frauenliebe und Leben, Robert Schumann – 8 to 16 March

A song cycle of eight songs for female voice and piano, presenting an evolving story of love and life. From her nervously excited first feelings and the uncertainty of returned affection, we share the narrator’s journey towards marriage.

Hereafter, she gains in maturity and confidence as she announces her pregnancy. In the final song, we witness the strength and range of her emotions as she confronts the loss of her husband.

The Diary of One Who Disappeared, Leoš Janáček – 8 to 16 March

This unconventional song cycle tells the story of a naive young villager who falls desperately in love with a wild gypsy girl and leaves the life he knows to follow her. Like many of Janáček’s late masterpieces, the genesis of ‘Diary’ is inseparable from its composer’s intense, obsessional love for a young married woman, Kamila Stösslová, who became the inspiration for the gypsy girl, Zefka.

cape town opera shorts Atlas of Remote Islands

Atlas of Remote Islands, Nathan Hall – 8 & 14 March

Atlas of Remote Islands is a one-act opera inspired by Judith Schalansky’s 2009 non-fiction book and adapted by Alan Olejniczak. Through haunting, poetic descriptions, it explores real islands around the world – some uncharted, some lost and rediscovered, some uninhabited, and some purely scientific.

With a rapidly shifting cast of characters, Atlas transports audiences across these remote landscapes, weaving a tale of longing, curiosity and wanderlust. It reminds us that while the destinations may not always meet our expectations, the true magic is in what lies beyond.

Staging Stories: The Summoning (Excerpts), Jonathan Blair – 16 March

The Summoning is a two-act opera that recounts the final evening in the life of famed inventor Nikola Tesla. Set in Tesla’s notorious New Yorker Hotel, in room 3327, the opera unfolds around a haunting last supper, where Tesla urgently entrusts two guests with the secrets that shaped the modern world and commissions them to complete his unfinished work.

The opera features Clara Hugo, Conroy Scott, Lukhanyo Moyake and Alida Scheepers. Following the performance, engage in a discussion with composer Jonathan Blair, musical director Jan Hugo and librettist Jaco Griessel. The performance is followed by a discussion with the creative team.

Staging Stories: Writing for Opera – 15 March

Join Cape Town Opera for a reading of new South African libretti, showcasing the work of six emerging writers who have completed an intensive four-month series of opera-writing workshops, led by acclaimed librettists Stephanie Fleischmann and Alan Olejniczak.

Each writer has created a ten-minute opera script to be presented in a public forum for the first time. This event also offers local composers a unique opportunity to connect with potential collaborators. After the showcase, audience members are invited to engage with the writers and discuss their work.