It was the late Australian conductor Stuart Challender who suggested that composer Ross Edwards and playwright Dorothy Hewett collaborate on a chamber opera, which is as much a celebration of place and belonging as it is of human interaction. Although this new State Opera South Australia production was originally planned for the old Queen’s Theatre, moving to the organisation’s headquarters proved advantageous, given the fickleness of winter weather.

Charlotte Kelso and Elizabeth Campbell. Photo © Soda Street Productions

Described by Hewitt as “an allegory or fable about illusion and reality and the truth and lies of memory”, Christina’s World tells the story of Christina, who in her middle age is obsessed to return to the home where she grew up, and remember the imaginative world she created for herself there. She conjures up her younger self. But how much of what happens was ever real?

Although marked as a moderate success on its initial production by the Seymour Group in 1983, the sophistication of both score and plot have gained in understanding since then to a place and time where the mastery and appropriateness of Edwards’ score and the almost sinister casting of Hewitt’s...