Poetically poignant, seductive and brilliantly atmospheric, composer Jonathan Mills and librettist Meredith Oakes’ new work, Eucalyptus: The Opera, is a beautifully realised collaboration on every level.
What germinated as an idea back in 2006 has finally transformed into a potent work that premiered earlier this year at Perth Festival, a little later at Brisbane Festival, and now, having involved a string of leading performing arts institutions in the country, in its third premiere with this Victorian Opera (VO) and Opera Australia semi-staged co-production.
Based on the 1998 novel for Murray Bail, with an all-Australian creative team and excellent cast, Eucalyptus: The Opera is a forest fairy tale of sorts that, like so many other stories reaching back through the centuries, uses the forest to explore human emotions and psychology.
At its core, is the relationship between a father and daughter – of protection on one hand and the yearning for the freedom to choose one’s own path on the other. The world of opera contains countless examples but Mills and Oakes’ work, set in a small town in rural New South Wales, approaches it with a fresh, Australian spirit.
Originally from Sydney and raising his daughter, Ellen (Desiree Frahn), alone, Holland (Simon Meadows) has planted and continues to grow a forest numbering 500 different species of eucalypts on his property, the construct perhaps entertaining the idea that the undertaking is a therapeutic exercise to deal with his past.
Ellen has blossomed, is the most beautiful young woman for miles but is constrained by her overly protective father. Believing that only the man who can name every species in his forest is good enough to marry his daughter, Holland advertises a competition in the local newspaper, “Husband Wanted”, in which the prize for successfully naming all species is Ellen’s hand in marriage.
The eventual winning suitor is the socially bland Cave (Samuel Dundas) but Ellen encounters the enigmatic Stranger (Michael Petruccelli) in the forest who alters the course of the story and gives hope to Ellen’s sense of entrapment.
Spread across almost two hours of drama and broken up by an interval, the brooding tensions, glints of mysteriousness and a palpable sense of the natural environment are all encapsulated by Mills’ superbly crafted score and Oakes’ engaging and judiciously rhyming libretto – on opening night conductor Tahu Matheson brought much sensitivity to the music and Orchestra Victoria beamed with expertise.
Mills establishes an inviting sense of eeriness from the start and employs ranging tonalities that effortlessly flow through the work while meaty solos, duets and trios, together with quirky chorus interjections, carry the story forward.
It does, however, dip marginally through the second part when Ellen’s attraction to the Stranger develops – his penchant for storytelling covering three longish tales even Ellen wonders what the point of them are. It’s a small quibble. What becomes evident, nonetheless, is a series of contrasts that characterise the work.
Notably, Holland tells her daughter to beware of men and never to trust a man who tells stories. Fathers are men, too, and daughters should beware of fathers, Ellen tells us.
Brought to life with an astute eye, director Michael Gow threads the narrative with a combination of thoughtfulness, pathos, energy and wit to support the composition admirably.
The first sight of Simone Romaniuk’s simple but impactful set design might have you believe you’ve drawn a gasp of pure, bushland air.
Tall eucalypts rendered in black on several scrim drops, a raised platform and tall gantry, within which images are projected on a curtain, are the main features. A clump of native shrubs grows to one side and 16 chairs populate the other.
The multiple spaces created lend great scope for Gow’s direction. And there’s still room for the large contingent of musicians from Orchestra Victoria who are partly in view to the rear of the scrim.
Trudy Dalgleish’s lighting is rich in mood and Romaniuk’s costumes for the principal characters perfectly match the libretto’s bush mood. Conversely, the chorus of townsfolk are a surprisingly stylish lot who suggest a 1950s setting. Gow’s creative team work a treat!
Frahn is utterly radiant as Ellen, convincingly embodying the vulnerability and wonderment of her character with remarkable emotivity and increasingly revealing the power within to act on her terms – though not before a meltdown of madness she makes gripping.
Meadows is a fortress of resoluteness and formidably muscular in voice as Holland, exuding a stiffness that holds pent up tension. Depicted as a rugged bushman, Petruccelli brings an appropriately enigmatic aura to the Stranger and a stellar, solidly expressive performance in tow, while Dundas’ Cave is a charming oddity of intellect and prudishness.
Word about town is helped along delightfully by Natalie Jones and Dimity Shepherd in lush voice and animated appeal as the old Sprunt Sisters and the 16-strong VO Chorus are an entertainingly lively bunch adept in the wild complexities of Mills’ challenging notations.
Altogether, it seems, Eucalyptus: The Opera bridges so much of what opera has often traditionally depicted with what a contemporary mind should hope for. Mills and Oakes’ have created a wonderfully intricate, seductive and eerie canvas on which Ellen cuts through with determined strength – certainly an outcome everyone deserves in life.
Eucalyptus: The Opera
Palais Theatre, Lower Esplanade, St Kilda
Performance: Wednesday 16 October 2024
Season continues to 19 October 2024
Information and Bookings: www.victorianopera.com.au
Images: Eucalyptus: The Opera – photos by Charlie Kinross Photography
Review: Paul Selar