The Moon Prince

The Moon Prince (also called Inkosana Yenyanga in Xhosa) is an opera with music by Anthony Caplan and a libretto by Gwyneth Lloyd and Xhosa translation by Miki Tame.

The original text

The opera was commissioned by Co-Opera in 1997. Roles were written for actual singers available at the time. Opportunities for dancing with traditional singing were introduced because of the great pool of this talent locally. Further use of mime was introduced to give the training methods of integrated voice and body movement expression in the action on stage.

This beautiful Sotho legend tells the story of a great king who has ten sons, one of which (with a full moon on his chest) is destined by the Moon to become his heir. In an age-old tale of jealousy, treachery, heroism (by the animals) and wisdom the story of how the king loses his son, how the son is nurtured and cared for and, finally, how father and son is reconciled, unfolds. Inkosana Yenyanga rises above the level of local ethnic legends to an archetypal myth of universal resonance. The story is redolent with elements of world mythological symbolism that is available to the psyches of both performers and audience who remain open to such influence.