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The Isango Ensemble, formerly Portobello Isango is a Cape Town-based theatre company.
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The Isango Ensemble, formerly Portobello Isango is a Cape Town-based theatre company.
Isango was established in 2000, when Dornford-May and conductor Charles Hazlewood travelled to South Africa to form a lyric theatre company for the Spier Festival. isango means "gate" or "port" or "gateway" in Xhosa and Zulu.
The theatre company was previously called Portobello Isango.[when?]
Most company members are drawn from the townships around Cape Town. The company's work focuses on re-imagining classics from the Western theatre canon, finding a new context for the stories within a South African or township setting, and developing new productions based on South African issues, stories, and novels.
The company is led by director Mark Dornford-May and music directors Pauline Malefane and Mandisi Dyantyis.
In 2001 two of the ensemble's first stage productions toured from Spier Festival in Cape Town to Wilton's Music Hall in London. From there The Mysteries - Yiimimangalisa transferred to West End and uCarmen was performed at many of the world's major arts festivals. Other stage work includes co-productions with the Young Vic of The Magic Flute – Impempe Yomlingo, featuring Mozart's score transposed for an orchestra of marimbas, and A Christmas Carol – Ikrismas Kherol. These won several awards, including The Magic Flute – Impempe Yomlingo winning an Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival and the Globes de Cristal for Best Opera Production following a sold-out season at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The Magic Flute – Impempe Yomlingo also played a season in the West End. In 2009 Isango played a second West End season of The Mysteries – Yiimimangaliso. In the summer of 2012, La Boheme – Abanxaxhi, a unique partnership with The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, played at Hackney Empire in London for five weeks. Also in 2012, the company created a new stage version of Shakespeare's Venus & Adonis in partnership with Shakespeare's Globe.
In 2013, the company returned to Shakespeare's Globe with Venus and Adonis and finished editing their new film Noye's Fludde.
2014 saw the company tour the US to universal critical acclaim with sold-out performances and produced another feature film Breathe - Umphefumlo, which had its premiere at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival and has a special gala screening in South Africa in March 2015, hosted by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
In 2016, Isango Ensemble adapted Jonny Steinberg's book A Man of Good Hope in co-production with the Young Vic, the Royal Opera, Répons Foundation, BAM and Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg. The show ran for two months at the Young Vic in London in Autumn 2016 and then played at BAM, New York City's most prestigious international house in February 2017, Hong Kong Arts Festival in February 2018 and in Europe in May/June 2018 at Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen in Germany and Bergen International Festival in Norway. In 2019 the production toured Adelaide, Auckland, several cities in France and the United Kingdom at the Royal Opera House.
Isango also adapted Fred Khumalo's book Dancing the Death Drill about the sinking of the SS Mendi in 2019 and premiered SS Mendi – Dancing the Death Drill at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, in London in May 2019. 2019 also saw Isango present productions in Norway in June (St Matthew Passion) and Australia (St Matthew Passion and SS Mendi - Dancing the Death Drill) in early September. Isango then undertook a multi-city tour of the US for nine weeks between late September and mid-November, visiting cities such as Boston, Chicago and New York with productions of Aesop's Fables, A Man of Good Hope and The Magic Flute - Impempe Yomlingo.
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