La Bohème: quick links
La Bohème: risks superficiality without buffers of historical distance
Gale Edwards’ La Bohème delivers exquisite, emotive music; powerful vocal performances; and vibrant set and costume design. While this may satisfy many opera fans, the production struggles with the depth and logic of its story, as well as its characterisations.
La Bohème is one of the world’s most popular and frequently staged operas. Composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895, with a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, it is based on Henri Murger’s Scènes de la vie de bohème. Murger’s stories, first published as a series and later compiled into a book in 1851, inspired Puccini’s romantic tragedy about the poverty of bohemian life.
Rather than shaping a solid narrative, Puccini structured his opera as a series of ‘images’ in the characters’ lives, rather than the formal acts typical of plays or story-driven performances. In this production, that approach invites the audience to experience the story mainly through Puccini’s exceptional score, paired with strong, precisely timed vocal performances and imaginative staging.
While this method allows for artistic fluidity and simplicity, the trade-off is a lack of depth and substance. La Bohème risks superficiality that, without the buffers of historical distance, its Italian libretto and status as a canonical work might feel cringeworthy if staged in a contemporary English setting. These buffers, however, help Edwards’ version remain effective.
La Bohème: bold, striking and colourful set
The opera, originally set in Paris around 1830, is here relocated to 1930s Berlin. The set is bold, striking, and colourful, full of movement and energy when the stage brims with performers.
The story opens on Christmas Eve with four impoverished friends who are down on their luck. In this lad’s club, there’s a poet, painter, musician, and philosopher. They are destitute, hungry and cold – surviving on idealism and forced to burn poems to stay warm.
The poet Rodolfo (Kang Wang) quickly becomes besotted with seamstress Mimi (Olivia Cranwell). With little convincing, she reciprocates. Both Wang and Cranwell deliver exceptional performances, projecting power, clarity, and emotion. Cranwell commands the audience with vibrant, full-bodied resonance.
La Bohème: troubling male-female dynamics if seen through modern lens
Yet through a modern lens, the male-female dynamics feel disturbing. Behaviour once seen as romantic or passionate can be seen as controlling or manipulative today.
In their first scene together, Rodolfo hides Mimi’s key to prolong their meeting, then physically guides her across the stage until she concedes to his advances. While this might be perceived as cute by some, it can also be perceived as an act of dominance and control.
These two lovers initially appear content, but things take a nasty turn as their relationship grows. As Mimi falls ill, Rodolfo’s jealousy intensifies and he accuses her of flirting, despite her honesty and kindness. He later confesses to the painter, Marcello (Luke Gabbedy), that his cruelty was a ruse to drive her away for her own good, as her illness was getting worse in his freezing quarters. The opera frames this as selfless sacrifice, yet it normalises manipulation and dishonesty.
Logic falters further when Mimi, near death, returns to Rodolfo, who welcomes her back. Meanwhile, Marcello’s turbulent relationship with Musetta (Rachelle Durkin) also depicts troubling violence. At one point he pulls her hair and throws her to the ground. But we are asked to let this slide, and it is written off as an outburst of passion.
Musetta herself is portrayed as aggressive, vain, and promiscuous – a contrast to Mimi’s character. Musetta represents the stereotype of a dangerously sexually promiscuous women capable of manipulating men, and Mimi represents wholesome selfless goodness and purity that can be manipulated by men.
At times, the characters’ locations are unclear, and this confusion is heightened by the set change after the interval. Running for close to two hours, the production maintains interest throughout. A thoughtful touch is the libretto, screened in English and summarised in Chinese – though the positioning of the screens makes them difficult to read without breaking focus from the stage.
Read: The Talented Mr Ripley review: STC production brings a well-known tale to stage
Ultimately, this production offers an exceptional score performed by a coordinated and exquisitely finely tuned live orchestra, matched with powerful vocal work and striking stagecraft. For those willing to see La Bohème as a product of its time – merely reflecting the attitudes of the 19th- century rather than embracing them – it remains an engaging, if flawed, experience.
La Bohème will be performed at the Sydney Opera House until 20 September 2025.
