Aria! – Black Hole Theatre

Overview

Opera gets a bad rap. Yes, it's beautiful and calming. The performers are endlessly talented. The shows themselves are nuanced, emotive and rich. But there's just something we can't shake about it. Perhaps it's the pearls and the champagne; decades upon decades of elite stuffiness is hard to overcome. But there was never anything wrong with the music itself. It may be time to give opera a second chance, and if there's anything that can revive our love for it, it's puppets.

In an exclusive two-night run, Aria! is a unique hybrid performance by Black Hole Theatre that will present a re-imagining of renowned arias from classic operas such as Madama Butterfly, Lakme and Faust. Re-imagined, importantly, through puppets. There will be marionettes, shadow puppets, and a form of Japanese puppet theatre called bunraku. Not to give away too much, but the famously hypnotic 'Humming Chorus' from Madama Butterfly will be performed while illuminated jellyfish hover and dance above the audience's heads.

In fact, the entire production will be quite different to any opera you may have been to. While, of course, there will be puppeteers and singers, the audience will also get a chance to enter the show. Provided with a torch upon entry, you will be able to shine light on performances as they roam around the intimate space. Far from the inevitable connotations of monacles and monarchs, this is one version of opera we can definitely get behind.