2021’s Perth Festival is centred around the theme of Bilya; river in the language of the Whadjuk Noongar people, upon whose lands the festival takes place. Freeze Frame Opera, a Perth-based company who regularly adapt classic operas for a modern audience, have embraced Bilya wholeheartedly, taking Dvořák’s Rusalka and transforming it into a production designed especially for children. The Little Mermaid takes an opera from the other side of the world and a different time and adapts it with a unique Western Australian voice, while at the same respecting children’s interest in storytelling and the arts.

Prudence Sanders and Caitlin Cassidy in Freeze Frame Opera’s The Little Mermaid. Photo courtesy of Perth Festival

For those familiar with the plot of Dvořák’s Rusalka, it may not seem like the first choice of opera to perform for children, especially with themes of death and damnation in the third act. However, Freeze Frame have taken a leaf out of Disney’s Frozen’s book and adapted the story for a younger and more modern audience. Sung in English, as opposed to the original Czech, The Little Mermaid takes musical...