Rising star director Laura Hansford reimagines Bizet’s classic by applying “maximalist surrealism” to the original setting of 1825 Seville. It’s the latest attempt to rethink the problematic femme fatale by asking contemporary questions about autonomy, obsession and the cost of living freely. Dane Lam leads the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra through the endlessly catchy score. The cast includes South Australian mezzo-soprano Charlotte Kelso in the title role, Austrian-Australian tenor Gerard Schneider as the hypertense Don José and Samuel Dale Johnson, making a welcome return to Australia to play the charismatic toreador Escamillo. (See page 50.)

Limelight Editor’s Choice

Smuggler. Seductress. Rebel. Risk-taker. She’s the woman who turns every head—and breaks every rule.

Bizet’s Carmen returns in a bold new production that pulses with danger, desire, and defiance. Emerging Director Laura Hansford, who is definitely one to watch, reimagines this operatic classic diving deep into the revolutionary heart of its iconic heroine. Carmen refuses to be owned, and her fiery spirit ignites a tragic love story that still burns with relevance today.

This is Carmen for our time: provocative, passionate, and unapologetically powerful, in the opera’s original 1825 Seville setting through a lens of maximalist surrealism.

Hansford challenges us to rethink the femme fatale, asking urgent questions about autonomy, obsession, and the cost of living freely. Featuring a powerhouse trio including South Australian Charlotte Kelso in the title role, Samuel Dale Johnson returning to Adelaide to play Escamillo and Gerard Schneider as Don José.