THERE was standing room only in the Civic Hall when Oz Opera came to town with the much-loved opera Madame Butterfly.
At least 200 locals, dressed in all their finery, crammed into the hall last week and were transported to another time and place with Puccini’s tragic tale of love and sacrifice.
Oz Opera’s last performance in Tennant Creek was in 1999 with Barber of Seville and 10 years on, they didn’t disappoint. From the Welcome to Country by Warumungu woman Judy Nakamarra Nixon to the standing ovation at the end of the two-hour show, the townsfolk of Tennant were enthralled by the whole affair.
John Bell’s production, in its simplicity and intimacy, focuses on the poignancy of the story, set in Nagasaki in 1946 and based around US naval officer Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, who undergoes a contract marriage to 16-year-old Japanese girl, Cio-Cio-San (aka Madame Butterfly).
Pinkerton callously abandons his fragile Butterfly, leaving her to cope on her own with a child and the disapproval of her family. After three years he returns, having since remarried and unaware that he is a father. His actions have tragic consequences for the beautiful Butterfly.
The small cast were vocally strong and with Bell’s superb direction, subtle lighting effects and simple but effective set design, they injected real warmth and heart into the story. Elisa Wilson as Butterfly moved from a naive 16-year-old to an emotionally strong, then bereft, abandoned wife with great skill, giving a superb rendition of One Fine Day.
She was well matched by the powerful voice of Jason Wasley as the cad Pinkerton with Karen van Spall especially moving as the sad and knowing Suzuki. The singable English translation came across as crisp and clear with fine performances by Benjamin Rasheed as Goro, Eddie Muliaumaseali’i as Bonze and Rohan Thatcher as Yamadori.
Humour is deftly sprinkled throughout this vocally marvellous production and while Madame Butterfly is far from a pantomime the performers and Oz Opera crew saw the funny side when Tennant’s townsfolk showed their feisty spirit and booed Pinkerton at the end.
Showing a cultural sensitivity, the strikingly elegant set and costume design by the late Jennifer Tate, which was realised by Julie Lynch, cleverly incorporated both traditional Japanese setting and modern Western influences of the time.
The set changes, while subtle (an assortment of magazine covers of American soldiers on the walls of Madame Butterfly’s humble home replace the cherry blossoms from Act 1), were stylish and effective.
The small instrumental ensemble of 11, expertly conducted by Christopher Van Tuinen, was skilfully used as an effective emotional tool, adding to the intimacy of the production and reducing several members of a strong and stoic audience to tears.
Several metropolitan critics have already lauded John Bell’s production as warm, fresh and stylish, but perhaps the greatest accolades came from the people of Tennant themselves.
Murmurs of delight and appreciation and constant expressions of hope that Oz Opera would come back soon wafted from the audience as they dreamily walked out into a star-studded night - knowing they had just been a part of something magical, indeed.
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