The dramatic Handmaid’s Tale opera, which preceded the worldwide TV phenomenon, will have its Australian premiere in the Yarra Valley.
It will be part of the inaugural Yarra Valley Opera Festival, which will run for 10 days from 12 October.
It’s Australia’s only opera festival.
The internationally-acclaimed cast for The Handmaid’s Tale includes American vocal powerhouse Sarah Heltzel as the stuck-in-servitude and main protagonist, Offred.
Soprano and runner-up on ABC’s Operatunity Oz, Emily Burke, will star alongside her as terrifying re-education maestro, Aunt Lydia.
The Royal Danish Opera commissioned the adaption of Margaret Atwood novel The Handmaid’s Tale, and it premiered in 2009.
“This piece is extraordinary – memorable, chilling and hauntingly beautiful,” festival director Linda Thompson said.
The festival will be set within the farmyard grounds of a historic Yarra Valley homestead.
It promises a world-class, international and uniquely-Australian celebration of opera’s power to tell compelling stories.
Ms Thompson said audiences could relax with a country picnic before enjoying a cocktail and taking their seats in the intimate theatre marquee.
Opera Australia principal conductor, Brian Castles-Onion, will lead a performance of The Elixir of Love in English with Gertrude Opera Young Artists’ emerging talent.
“Elixir of Love, performed in such an incredibly unique atmosphere, allows attendees to experience the full gamut of human emotions in an intimate performance, with stories bought to life through voice, movement and music,” he said.
The Yarra Valley Opera Festival will run from 12 to 21 October at Olinda Yarra in Yering and various satellite locations.
Visit www.yarravalleyoperafestival.com.au for more information or to book.
