In 2012, as a fledgling stage manager, Laura Hansford was asked to take on the job of props manager for Opera Queensland’s production of Carmen. She laughs, recalling that her boss at the time told her, “Be careful of opera – people who go to work in opera never leave.”

A decade and a half later, Hansford understands this sentiment. Enamoured with the genre, she declares, “I just absolutely fell head over heels in love with the art form, the big bigness of it all, the most mostness of it. Everything at its extremes.”

Laura Hansford. Photo © Andrew Beveridge for State Opera South Australia

Since then, Hansford – who grew up in rural Queensland with no exposure to the art form whatsoever – has made it her “life mission to make more people fall in love with opera”.

For the last decade, she has worked at OQ and directed the company’s most successful touring production, Are You Lonesome Tonight, which premiered in 2021. Also for OQ, she co-directed the 2022 world premiere of The Sopranos, Sarah Holland-Batt’s celebratory and boundary-pushing portrayal of rebellious women in the history of...