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Three state operas unite for feminist La Traviata

Director Sarah Giles and Opera Queensland’s Patrick Nolan discuss the themes of their new opera and explain why it is being staged as a co-production.

13 Jul 2022 8:24

Richard Watts

A woman sits with her back to us, an ornate dress spread out on the floor around her; we can see her face reflected in a large mirror sitting opposite her.

Opera

Lorina Gore plays Violetta in Opera Queensland, State Opera South Australia and West Australian Opera’s co-production, La Traviata. Photo: David Kelly

‘The thing that I’m always fascinated by is looking at the politics of now through the prism of another era. And given how politics are going at the moment, I think looking backwards is actually incredibly useful,’ said Sarah Giles, the director of a new production of La Traviata opening in Brisbane this week.

Whether it’s the world of 1853 or today, ‘there’s one rule for someone and another rule for another person, and Violetta’s world doesn’t feel that different to our own,’ she added.

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Richard Watts

Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's former 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 2019 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in early 2020. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association in 2021, and a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Photo: Fiona Hamilton. Follow Richard on Bluesky @richardthewatts.bsky.social and Instagram @richard.l.watts