Review: The Drover’s Wife at Sydney Opera House

Review by Anja Bless 

Henry Lawson’s 1892 short story, The Drover’s Wife tells the story of an isolated mother, living in the bush with her children and protecting them from a snake that has invaded their home. Lawson’s story captures the hardship of colonial life and the veracity of a mother who will do anything to protect her children. In Leah Purcell AM’s reimagining of this tale, the story expands to also encapsulate the violence and discrimination faced by First Nations peoples during (and since) colonisation, and questions of identity, community, and care. Purcell’s retelling of The Drover’s Wife is now showing at Sydney Opera House in its latest iteration (previously a play, novel, and film), as an opera composed by George Palmer AM with libretto by both Purcell and Palmer. This version of the tale combines European theatrical and musical form with dance, language, and story from Indigenous Australians. In doing so, it brings further to life Purcell’s story of the fear, violence, and mistrust that permeated colonial life and how this contrasts with the systems of reciprocity and care cultivated over millennia by Indigenous Australians. 

Starring in The Drover’s Wife are a captivating ensemble led by Nina Korbe as Molly Johnson. Korbe’s soprano is enrapturing, earning dedicated applause from the audience after one of her solos. She captures the toughness, and grit through which Molly approaches life, the fear and uncertainty of living alone in the bush with only her children around her, and the grief for a mother she never knew. Korbe’s use of crescendoing soprano notes into cries of anguish capture beautifully the duality of her character and the form of this opera. Although the switch from her operatic tone to spoken Australian drawl at one point in the production is a little jarring. 

Joining Korbe is Marcus Corowa as Yadaka, an Aboriginal man on the run who has suffered his own grief and violent past. He shows Molly that trust is not always misplaced, and that care can still come from connection. Corowa captures the dual roles Aboriginal men played in colonial Australia, kicked down as ‘mongrel dogs’ by invaders on their Land and forced to defer to them to survive, whilst also being leaders as men in their communities, trying to protect their family and friends from harm in a world set against their people. The final main performer in the production is Danny, Molly’s son, played by Nick Smith. Though playing a younger child, Smith does well to capture Danny’s innocence and verve for life, his growing affection for Yadaka, and his protective instinct for his mother. 

But while the performances of the main cast give strength to the production, what elevates it are the supporting ensemble of First Nations dancers and performers, who serve as a constant reminder of the people who care for the Country on which Molly lives, and who protect her, Danny and Yadaka’s spirits from the violence that befalls them. Shauntai Abdul-Rahman as Black Mary is the lead singer among this ensemble, with beautiful duets shared with Korbe from atop the magnificent bending snow gum that frames the set designed by Isabel Hudson.

Given its heavy themes, Purcell’s direction of The Drover’s Wife through the inclusion of this First Nations dance ensemble helps to add needed space between moments of tension or grief and connect to the lore and culture interwoven through the production. This is particularly true of the way in which Yadaka’s death is portrayed, capturing the horror and violence without gratuitousness. It was therefore a strange choice that the sexual assault of Molly was not given similar treatment, why that violence was not also left implied rather than performed on stage. Another peculiar choice was the placement of Danny at centre stage in the culminating song, given the leading role both Molly and Yadaka had played in the tale. 

These minor notes aside, The Drover’s Wife as an opera is an exciting addition to Australian theatre and music, telling the stories that must be told about our history through a form that too often remains Eurocentric. 

Image Credit: Carlita Sari