Adelaide Festival Theatre
October 25, 2014

Hosted by the State Opera of South Australia (with collaborators Cape Town Opera, West Australian Opera, Opera Queensland, NBR New Zealand Opera, and Victorian Opera), Simon Phillips’ production of Verdi’s Otello opens with nearly all hands on the decks of a 21st-century aircraft carrier.

The opening chord of the psychological thriller brilliantly sacrifices longevity for efficacy. Traditionally, it’s short, colourful and shocking. Then there’s this opening of Verdi’s Otello. It’s the same, but with added military tactic; a little something called “the element of surprise”. As the audience recovers, the gathering storm gives strength to the khaki-clad State Opera chorus who are in excellent voice with exacting diction that is praiseworthy throughout. The admirable first act Fire of Joy flows seamlessly into Iago’s Drinking Song. The military personnel stage a booze-a-thon (with selfies) that culminates in a well executed glassing. I look for the selfie shots on my @StateOperaofSA twitter feed at interval, to no avail. It’s a missed marketing opportunity.

Strategically choreographed chorus movements are uniformly efficient, although a couple of occasions when the precision is less than military stand out like a giant cannon on the foredeck; easily seen. However, their at-ease stance is...