BWW Reviews: Opera Australia's Presents Puccini's MADAMA BUTTERFLY With Pared Back Simplicity

Tuesday 27th January 2015, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House

Moffatt Oxenbould's (Director) staging of MADAMA BUTTERFLY is revived by Matthew Barclay (Revival Director) to share this doomed love story with new audiences. Whilst other operas presented by Opera Australia in their 2015 season have been re-imaginings, changing locations and eras, MADAMA BUTTERFLY has been left in its early 1900's time-period and house on a hill in Nagasaki setting.

Designers Peter England and Russell Cohen have created a single simple setting to represent the house on the hill as Puccini and the western world of the early 1900's would have imagined a traditional Japanese house to look like, based on stories and pictures bought back by travellers. A square wooden stage in the style of Japanese Noh Theatre, marked with lines to represent the straw tatami mats, with a raised platform to serve as a low table or bed and bridges to connect the central island stage to the sides and rear of the stage over a water filled channel of water. The walls represent the paper screens used in traditional houses that let in light but maintain privacy. White clad koken,a deviation from the traditional black, are utilised to assist with on stage costume changes and prop delivery, often entering and exiting through the water channel, further confirming that they are assistants, similar to the modern stage hands.

The costuming is colourful and dramatic and helps define characters and groups from The Bonze's earthy red, Madama Butterfly's servants in green kimonos and Prince Yamadori's golden royal robes. Changes of colour for Madama Butterfly's robes symbolise changes in her life from the Red of the geishas, the blue of her family, white of a newlywed and black for the wife waiting for her husband to return. Goro, the marriage broker starts the story bridging the gap between the east and the west with a coat stylised to be part western tail coat and part Japanese kimono, paired with loose silk pants and bowler hat. He then develops to adopting a traditional western suit tailcoat and more fitted pants, albeit still silk, indicating a passage of time. Sharpless, the United States Consul maintains a cream suit and straw boater hat throughout and BF Pinkerton, the Lieutenant in the US Navy, and Madama Butterfly's missing husband, retains his uniform. Kate Pinkerton, the American wife, is rigid and unapproachable in Edwardian style corseted, high buttoned attire in muted tones, providing a contrast to Suzuki's flowing kimono.

Give that Madama Butterfly is supposed to be a 15 year old Japanese Geisha at the start of the story, and the influence of Kabuki on the design of the show, more use of makeup and wigs would have helped transform Greek born Alexia Voulgaridou into the youthful Madama Butterfly. The same can also be said of Sian Pendry's portrayal of Butterfly's servant Suzuki as both are clearly western and if it wernt for the clothes, it would not be clear they were portraying Japanese women. Neither Puccini nor librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, or playwright David Belasco and writer John Luther Long had been to Japan and based their stories on images and accounts of the exotic land and it would not have been out of place to utilise more dramatic makeup and wigs to emphasise the characters given that the designers are drawing on other elements of the traditional theatre.

Puccini's music is beautifully interpreted under that baton of Conductor Gianluca Martinenghi. As with his other works, Puccini has utilised themes to signal different characters and his emotive score enables the audience to focus on the music without requiring a full understanding of the lyrics. The story does drag on a little compared to Puccini's other works which have more plot points and does not remain relevant. The long wait for Pinkerton's return, the rejection of financial security and the refusal to believe that the marriage is over doesn't really translate to modern society and therefore make the story feel laboured. The over the three acts, the depth of Madama Butterfly's love is reinforced from her initial wide eyed love in the long duet sequence, ignorant of Pinkerton's intentions to eventually find an "American Wife", to her hope that her husband will return in Un bei di(One beautiful day). Musically, Voulgaridou presents these beautifully despite the unnatural movements choreographed in the Kabuki style and the incongruent appearance that proves a little distracting.

James Egglestone as Pinkerton, set to exploit the lax Japanese contract and marital laws to marry the child bride then leave her presents a warm tone when singing of his plan in Dovunque al mondo (Throughout the World), exposing himself as a cad. Sharpless provides a contrast to Pinkerton and Michael Honeyman's baritone sits well with Egglestone's tenor as Sharpless sings of hearing Madama Butterfly speak and urging Pinkerton not to "pluck off her delicate wings".

Opera Australia's MADAMA BUTTERFLY is a beautiful restaging of Puccini's favourite and provides more escapism than his other works like LA BOHEME and TOSCA. Whilst it does provide some social commentary on the exploitation of the East by the West, the fascination with the exotic new worlds in the early 1900's, and the value of honour in Japanese culture, it generally stays as a period piece which is how this performance has been presented.

MADAMA BUTTERFLY

Opera Australia

Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House

27 January - 28 March 2015