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[title]Even if you haven’t seen Giachino Rossini’s comedic opera The Barber of Seville in person, you’re likely to have heard some of its famous arias in contemporary shows and movies like Seinfeld, The Simpsons and Mrs Doubtfire. The 200-year-old opera has maintained its grasp on popular culture over the centuries and now, with direction by Priscilla Jackman (Bluebeard’s Castle, White Pearl, Still Point Turning), it’s getting a contemporary facelift for a national tour with Opera Australia.
Contemporary here doesn’t mean set in 2022 or filled with technology; instead, audiences will be treated to hipster barbershops, cellar doors and nods to styles from the 1920s to the 1940s. “When you go into one of those old-world barber shops, you get the feeling that you’ve stepped into another time and yet you’re also very much in the present,” says Jackman. “We’ve given it some framing, that nod to our contemporary world, but hopefully [the production] retains the essence.”
Retaining the essence is a huge consideration for Jackman when it comes to adapting a centuries-old work for a modern audience. When she and Andy Morton co-directed and adapted the inherently deeply misogynistic text of Bluebeard’s Castle last year, it required subverting some elements to work within the context of the #MeToo era. But with The Barber of Seville, Jackman says it wasn’t so much a case of subverting, twisting and morphing the original text.
For those unfamiliar with the story, Rosina is a young woman set to inherit a large sum of money. She begins to fall for the wealthy Count Almaviva, who woos her in disguise in the hopes that she’ll fall for him, not his money. Unfortunately, there’s a spanner in the works; Rosina is under the guardianship of Dr Bartolo, who’s plotting to marry her himself to get his hands on her money.
“In the way it stands, Barber is glorious for every audience and our contemporary values in many ways,” says Jackman. “The central character of Rosina is one of the great comic roles for women in opera, and although in some English translations or subtitles you may get the sense that she’s this sort of helpless damsel in distress, she’s actually completely ahead of her time.”
When Jackman went back to the original libretto in preparation for this adaptation, she found that Rosina was an autonomous woman and a self-confessed viper. “She presents as respectful and courteous, but if you cross her path, you’d better watch out,” says Jackman. “In our production, we took from the libretto the invitation to really make Rosina the kind of central figure of her environment.”
In Rossini’s original play, that environment is the Spanish town of Seville, a setting that Jackman describes as being all about “love and games and froth and fancy and fun, all the good things in life.” So when trying to recreate that within an Australian setting, Jackman set her sights on Victoria’s wine region — and you can imagine her surprise when she discovered that there’s a little town called Seville located just outside of Yarra Valley.
“It put us down a rabbit hole, and we started to do a lot of research around the environments of wineries,” says Jackman. “We really love the sense of history and nostalgia and craft that feels to be part of the tapestry of these places, and there’s something innately joyful, fresh, contemporary [and yet] timeless about the experience of cellar doors.” As a result, Rosina runs her very own cellar door, and Jackman says “she’s the boss-lady of this environment — she’s ruling the roost.”
Unlike Opera Australia’s recent revival of La Traviata, which is known for its opulent set that went on to inspire the decadent Moulin Rouge!, this production features a minimalist set by nature of being a mobile opera. Since the set needs to be broken down and set back up as it chugs along on its national tour of Australia, the immersive nature of this production comes from elaborate costumery and Jackman’s decision to bring minor characters into the forefront.
“This opera is just a glorious feast for a costume designer, particularly the character of the count who dresses up in a whole series of costumes,” says Jackman. “It’s also a delightful smorgasbord of different characters, and we hope that the community of smaller characters and the world they build reaches out to the audience. It really adds to the kind of pop and fizz of the world.”
The Barber of Seville is touring throughout VIC, NSW, the ACT and TAS between now and September 17. For more information, visit the Opera Australia website.