Where are we? A 1800s country mansion or a dark, decrepit aged care home. Cameron Menzies’ production of Eugene Onegin, remounted for the West Australian Opera, sparks intrigue at first sight.
Niall Mckeever’s set cleverly melds a current place with fragments of another setting through tilted and distressed furnishings, present but fading into the background. To add to the level of fascination, an elderly woman, sitting in isolation in a wheelchair, contrasts with the audience’s pre-existing knowledge of this show about Russian aristocracy. Yet before our minds can wander too far from the original plot, vibrant period-accurate characters grace the scene while our elderly lady watches on in the shadows.
Menzies’ direction gives plenty of room for the talented cast to insert intricate character choices that breathe realism into their performances. This included playful and cheeky moments, most enjoyably between Tatyana, played by Eleanor Lyons, and her nurse Filipyevna, Nicole Youl.
Eugene Onegin. West Australia Opera. Photography: West Beach Studio.
The early moments of humour were needed as the story progressed deeper into its dark and heartbreaking ending. Samuel Dundas was incredible in his titular character’s transition from arrogant and cynical through to devastated and inconsolable. His sobering turmoil as a result of the duel with and subsequent death of Lensky, played by Paul O’Neill, was piercingly emotive. It struck me that compared to other operas and plays of this era, which generally end in an untimely death of a lover, there’s something more impactful and potentially real in the idea of losing a loved one not from death but from one’s own flaws and ego. Regret is something we can all relate to. Collectively, the acting from the leads, combined with their vocal performances, offered some of the most impressive and embodied performances I’ve seen of late.
As someone who doesn’t usually read a director’s note until after the show, I was glad to learn that my interpretation of the out-of-place elderly woman in the wheelchair as an older Tatyana was correct. I appreciated that lens on the story and the depiction of memories.
Menzies’ direction and vision of this production presents strongly as a work not from here. The essence and vivacity that flowed through Eugene Onegin is not something I encounter often, was refreshing to witness and an example of a great cross-cultural collaboration.
Eugene Onegin presented by West Australian Opera is on at His Majesty’s Theatre from Aug 6-15.