The curtain has fallen on a landmark production in Australian opera as the curtain fell on an adaptation of Peter Carey’s 1981 novel, Bliss. Initially there was skepticism about whether the Carey’s book with its rich Australian language of “drongo” and “stick it up your arse” would translate into a libretto.
But the production was praised for its innovation. The Age applauded that the “score pulses with energy and bristles with invention and clarity” while The Australian praised it as “a success in every way”.
While Carey himself had a limited role in the adaptation as he’s still actively writing new novels including his latest Parrot & Olivier in America, which he’ll discuss at his only Melbourne appearance for the Wheeler Centre.