Opera review: Don Giovanni, Meat Market Stables

The famous rake of the operatic world, Don Giovanni, gets a modern twist with BK Opera’s production of the same name. This Don Giovanni isn’t gallivanting around the 17th century countryside, but prowling through a BDSM community. True to its ethos, BK Opera homed in on the opera’s darkness, namely Don Giovanni’s predatory relationship with women. In classical interpretations, this protagonist seduces, lies, manipulates and exerts his power as a noble to sleep with women, but discussions of consent are brushed over. In this production, two of the three sexual encounters he has with women are aggressive and not consensual.

It’s an ambitious and interesting concept that provides insight into how a story with the problematic values of the time when Mozart composed it can be translated for today’s audiences. 

However, it’s no small feat to stage an opera, especially as an independent production company. While Director Kate Millett and the rest of the BK Opera team made a valiant effort, the central performance elements fell short and the modern BDSM interpretation lost much of – ironically – the power dynamics that drive the narrative forward. 

This includes the interactions between Don Giovanni and Leporello; now no longer master and servant, their relationship is unclear. Moreover, the power difference between Don Giovanni and Masetto, originally noble and peasant – which forces Masetto to leave his fiancée alone with the ‘gentleman’ – is omitted, so Masetto’s behaviour is confounding. 

Phoebe Paine, playing Donna Anna, offered up the best vocals of the night during the ‘Non mi dir’ aria, but wrangled with Mozart’s technical requirements for the rest of the production like the other cast members. The consistency of Esther Counsel’s breath control and projection also deserves a nod. She played Donna Elvira.

The cast’s performances were, bar one, quite one-note with some performances downright wooden. The exception, Archie Rumsam, delivered a spectacular shift from creepy and brooding in Act One to boyish and unpredictable, flopping about the stage on a drug-fuelled bender, in Act Two. 

Indeed, these moments, and the second half of Act Two in general, showcased the best blocking of the night. The cast then were assured in their movement and tension was built to a satisfying climax. But for the rest of the night, movement on stage was static outside of the BDSM heavy moments. The cast were often rooted to the ground; there was much hunching over, flimsy physicality and a disconnection between their movements and what they were singing about. The character of Donna Anna, for instance, tottered awkwardly in one spot in response to her protector’s death for minutes on end.

The costuming and set were a boon for the production, with Esther Counsel’s corset a scene stealer in and of itself, but it wasn’t enough when the effort of putting on such demanding work was clearly visible. 

Read: Performance review: Pride and Prejudice – An Adaptation in Words and Music, Arts Centre Melbourne

Regardless of these problems, BK Opera holds an important place in Australia’s opera ecosystem – offering space to modernise opera and provide performance opportunities for Australian singers. 

Don Giovanni
Meat Market Stables
Director: Kate Millett
Conductor: Gloria Gamboz
Repetiteur: Kevin Tamanini
Set Design: Max Bowyer
Lighting Design: Gabriel Bethune
Sound Design: Ethan Hunter
Costume Design: Oliver Hall
Intimacy Coordination: Cohan and Micah Patston
Fight Choreography: Ricardo Magno
BDSM Consultant: HimBoy
Stage Manager: Estella Koce
Cast: Archie Rumsam, Nick Beecher, Christopher-Jack Andrew, Esther Counsel, Phoebe Paine, Alex Gorbatov, Leyland Jones, Maya Charles Sedergreen, Alison Lemoh

Don Giovanni was performed 25-28 September 2024.