Marriage of Figaro/ Oedipus the King
The Marriage of Figaro
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Directors: Neil Armfield and Roger Press for Opera Queensland
The Queensland Orchestra conducted by Richard Gill
Venue: Lyric Theatre
Oedipus the King
Written by Sophocles
Translator: Don Taylor
Director: Michael Gow for Queensland Theatre Company
Venue: QPAC Playhouse
On the surface, there could hardly be two different theatrical experiences. Oedipus the King is a Greek tragedy about a great man’s undoing; The Marriage of Figaro is an operatic musical comedy based on an Italian play about … well, at least in part, a great man’s undoing.
In Figaro, a nobleman is outfoxed by his servants acting in cahoots with his wife; in Oedipus, the king is the master of his own downfall, albeit unwittingly. In Figaro, the title character is contracted to marry a woman who turns out to be his mother; in Oedipus, the title character actually does marry his mother.
Coincidentally, this production of the Mozart opera began its life as a 1998 production of the Beaumarchais play The Marriage of Figaro for the Queensland Theatre Company, starring Geoffrey Rush, Bille Brown and Robyn Nevin.
In celebration of the opening in September 1998 of the QPAC Playhouse, director Neil Armfield and designer Dale Ferguson first employed the concept of “wrapping up” the set like a wedding present. When the Welsh National Opera invited Armfield to direct Figaro for a season in Cardiff, he and Ferguson elaborated on the ideas conceived here in Brisbane.
The show has now come full circle, with Roger Press recreating Armfield’s artistic vision in the Lyric Theatre for Opera Queensland.
The involvement of artists like Armfield and Ferguson, who cut their teeth in "straight" theatre, has been a major factor in the revival of opera as popular entertainment in recent years.
Long gone are the days when a diva would stand stoically in one spot, hands clasped before her, belt out an aria and then take a couple of curtain calls before getting on with it. Modern audiences demand the full package – singers who look the part and can act, directors who can interpret the text and designers who think beyond the bleeding obvious.
With Figaro, the creative team has discovered the sense of joy and madcap humour that has been lost or neglected in some previous interpretations.
The cast, led by Andrew Collis as Figaro and Tiffany Speight as Susanna, are uniformly excellent. I was especially taken by Michael Lewis as Count Almaviva. His entrance – with flowing hair and bare chest, looking like an ageing Fabio – was priceless, and his technique compelling. Geoffrey Harris’s Don Basilio also raised a smile, while Leanne Kenneally’s Countess was visually and vocally stunning, and Caitlin Hulcup made very fine work of the challenging role of Cherubino. This Marriage is the icing on the cake of a fruitful year for Opera Queensland.
Meanwhile, around the corner at the Playhouse, Marcus Graham, Carol Burns and Paul Bishop are riding an emotional tsunami each night in Michael Gow’s production of one of the oldest, and greatest, dramas in the canon.
Gow chose to direct just one play this year, and he and his team – including a chorus comprising veteran stars Leo Wockner, Penny Everingham, Kaye Stevenson and David Clendinning, plus Queensland Theatre Company newcomer Leon Cain – have created something just short of a masterpiece.
Graham is spectacular in the lead role of the king who unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother, while Bishop makes a welcome return to the Brisbane stage and proves that he’s still got serious acting chops despite (or, dare I say, because of) a few years in a television soapie.
Don Taylor’s hip translation puts an extremely challenging piece in context for modern audiences, making sense of the arcane practices and beliefs central to the story and, importantly, allowing for some tension-breaking humour
Brisbane audiences could not want for a slicker double-bill than Figaro and Oedipus, with two of our professional companies at the top of their game.
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Directors: Neil Armfield and Roger Press for Opera Queensland
The Queensland Orchestra conducted by Richard Gill
Venue: Lyric Theatre
Oedipus the King
Written by Sophocles
Translator: Don Taylor
Director: Michael Gow for Queensland Theatre Company
Venue: QPAC Playhouse
On the surface, there could hardly be two different theatrical experiences. Oedipus the King is a Greek tragedy about a great man’s undoing; The Marriage of Figaro is an operatic musical comedy based on an Italian play about … well, at least in part, a great man’s undoing.
In Figaro, a nobleman is outfoxed by his servants acting in cahoots with his wife; in Oedipus, the king is the master of his own downfall, albeit unwittingly. In Figaro, the title character is contracted to marry a woman who turns out to be his mother; in Oedipus, the title character actually does marry his mother.
Coincidentally, this production of the Mozart opera began its life as a 1998 production of the Beaumarchais play The Marriage of Figaro for the Queensland Theatre Company, starring Geoffrey Rush, Bille Brown and Robyn Nevin.
In celebration of the opening in September 1998 of the QPAC Playhouse, director Neil Armfield and designer Dale Ferguson first employed the concept of “wrapping up” the set like a wedding present. When the Welsh National Opera invited Armfield to direct Figaro for a season in Cardiff, he and Ferguson elaborated on the ideas conceived here in Brisbane.
The show has now come full circle, with Roger Press recreating Armfield’s artistic vision in the Lyric Theatre for Opera Queensland.
The involvement of artists like Armfield and Ferguson, who cut their teeth in "straight" theatre, has been a major factor in the revival of opera as popular entertainment in recent years.
Long gone are the days when a diva would stand stoically in one spot, hands clasped before her, belt out an aria and then take a couple of curtain calls before getting on with it. Modern audiences demand the full package – singers who look the part and can act, directors who can interpret the text and designers who think beyond the bleeding obvious.
With Figaro, the creative team has discovered the sense of joy and madcap humour that has been lost or neglected in some previous interpretations.
The cast, led by Andrew Collis as Figaro and Tiffany Speight as Susanna, are uniformly excellent. I was especially taken by Michael Lewis as Count Almaviva. His entrance – with flowing hair and bare chest, looking like an ageing Fabio – was priceless, and his technique compelling. Geoffrey Harris’s Don Basilio also raised a smile, while Leanne Kenneally’s Countess was visually and vocally stunning, and Caitlin Hulcup made very fine work of the challenging role of Cherubino. This Marriage is the icing on the cake of a fruitful year for Opera Queensland.
Meanwhile, around the corner at the Playhouse, Marcus Graham, Carol Burns and Paul Bishop are riding an emotional tsunami each night in Michael Gow’s production of one of the oldest, and greatest, dramas in the canon.
Gow chose to direct just one play this year, and he and his team – including a chorus comprising veteran stars Leo Wockner, Penny Everingham, Kaye Stevenson and David Clendinning, plus Queensland Theatre Company newcomer Leon Cain – have created something just short of a masterpiece.
Graham is spectacular in the lead role of the king who unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother, while Bishop makes a welcome return to the Brisbane stage and proves that he’s still got serious acting chops despite (or, dare I say, because of) a few years in a television soapie.
Don Taylor’s hip translation puts an extremely challenging piece in context for modern audiences, making sense of the arcane practices and beliefs central to the story and, importantly, allowing for some tension-breaking humour
Brisbane audiences could not want for a slicker double-bill than Figaro and Oedipus, with two of our professional companies at the top of their game.
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