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 is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts