State Opera South Australia. Her Majesty’s Theatre. 7 May 2026
La Cenerentola (Cinderella) is a well-known fairy tale about goodness prevailing against the odds and, figuratively speaking, about cream rising to the top. Neil Armfield’s production of Rossini’s operatic version of the story for State Opera South Australia celebrates its ‘global première’ this evening, and it too will rise to the top in the canon of productions of this opera. It just dazzled in almost every respect!
The fundamental story of Cinderella has a long history, and there are versions that hail back to the days of ancient China and Egypt. They all have one thing in common: someone born to privilege (such as a handsome prince) surprisingly chooses someone from humble origins to be their partner rather than choosing an ‘equal’. The most recent season of the popular TV series Bridgerton is a clear example of the Cinderella trope.
Rossini’s La Cenerentola, which is subtitled “Goodness Triumphant”, is based on a libretto by his friend Jacopo Ferretti. Many of the features of the ‘usual’ version of the fairy tale have been altered, such as the glass slipper becoming a bracelet. Instead of a fairy godmother, there is a wise man (Alidoro) who is tutor to the prince (Ramiro) and, through his deep understanding of human nature (and his employer!), situations are manipulated to ensure the prince and Cinderella (Angelina) become a match and her harsh step-father (Don Magnifico) and self-absorbed highly-conceited step-sisters (Clorinda and Tisbe) get their comeuppance!
Ferretti’s libretto is engaging and very humorous, and Armfield has a field day ensuring that his talented cast milk it for every belly laugh they can, and there are lots of them! Helena Dix as Clorinda is a standout and delivers an object lesson in stagecraft, comic timing, body language and exquisite facial nuance, as she primps and preens. The rest of the cast also produce quality performances in spades! Anna Dowsey (Angelina) balances virtue with self-doubt and indulging (briefly!) in guilty pleasure. Her Angelina has both warmth and emotional credibility. Jihoon Son imbues the prince with self-assuredness, confidence and boyish awkwardness. Nicholas Lester revels in Dandini, the prince’s valet, and plays him with exuberance and cheekiness as he impersonates the prince. Teddy Tahu Rhodes is larger than life as Don Magnifico and transitions hilariously between imperiousness, panic and chastened obsequiousness. Pelham Andrews is excellent as Alidoro and gives us evidence of his substantial acting chops, especially during the inspired puppet-master sequence in the Act 2 sextet. Indyana Schneider convincingly plays the second fiddle sister Tisbe and plays off Dix fabulously.
The State Opera Chorus is also a comical riot. Dressed in a mix of T-shirts that celebrate State Opera’s fifty golden years of achievement, they sport mullet hair dos in keeping with Armfield’s setting of the opera in the 1970s as a nod to State Opera’s significant anniversary. The all-male chorus strut and swagger across the stage and underline the action with great tongue-in-cheek humour and kitsch disco dance steps!
Armfield’s collaboration with Stephen Curtis (set and superbly detailed costumes) and Nigel Levings (lighting) has created a design that allows the essence of the story line (which is tissue thin!) to come through cleanly without being obscured by unnecessary elements. Often attempts to update the context of an opera are problematic and lead to clumsy unintended consequences and cringeworthy anachronisms, but not so with Armfield’s choice of the 1970s. After all, the story is timeless, even if simple. The set itself is skeletal, and the large rectangular scaffold structure that dominates centre stage could, appropriately, represent a picture (storybook?) frame or a false proscenium underscoring the notion that the narrative of the opera is itself a story within a story. Various furniture items are trucked on stage with the stage crew in plain view. There’s a Brechtian feel to the whole thing and the emphasis is squarely on the story, and the music. The audience is constantly reminded they are watching performers construct a story before their eyes. That self-awareness only heightens the comedy.
The lighting of the storm scene in Act 2 is just superb, and the shadow puppetry is hilariously delightful, and is a perfect segue to Pelham Andrews (as Alidoro) becoming the puppet master during the sextet. This is a near genius touch from Armfield, with hilarious results, and one senses Andrews relishing the role!
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra is beautifully balanced and under the assured baton of guest conductor Stuart Stratford the singers are supported and complemented without ever being dominated. The ‘patter’ songs—the quintet Signor, una parola in Act 1, and the sextet Siete voi?... in Act 2—are fiendishly difficult to execute but delightfully fun to listen to, and Stratford does well to corral the orchestra and singers as tightly as he does whilst giving them room to mould the comedy.
Rossini borrowed the overture from one of his earlier operas (La gazzetta), and it is long. Rather than simply play it through and then raise the curtain, Armfield cleverly uses it to accompany a range of business that he creates for members of the cast. We see the ‘Stage Manager’ (Pelham Andrews) walking the stage and directing the ‘crew’ (members for the chorus) to attend to various tasks in readiness for the show to commence. As mentioned above, it’s almost a nod to Brecht, and we the audience are unsuspectingly repositioned as co-creators of what is about to unfold as distinct to being passive recipients of an entertainment. It’s clever, as is the whole production.
State Opera South Australia can be immensely proud of this fabulous production which opens their fiftieth anniversary year. It is funny, inventive, musically polished and, above all, gloriously acted. There are only three more performances with the season concluding Saturday 16 May. It richly deserves a life far beyond Adelaide.
Kym Clayton
When: 7 to 16 May
Where: Her Majesty’s Theatre
Bookings: ticketek.com.au
