Voss opera returns after 30 years in the wilderness

Based on Patrick White’s novel, the operatic adaptation has not been staged in Australia since 1990.

Based on the 1957 novel by Patrick White, and widely considered to be one of the great Australian operas, Voss makes a long-awaited return to the stage in Adelaide on Saturday 7 May.

The production, which is jointly presented by State Opera South Australia and Victorian Opera, was nearly derailed by COVID, with Victorian Opera’s August 2021 presentation of Voss cancelled due to Victoria’s long and rolling lockdowns.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts