When Kasper Holten unveiled his staging of Eugene Onegin at Covent Garden in 2013, it divided critics, many of whom were scathing about his use of dancers doubling as the young Tatyana and Onegin.

It seems odd that this particular theatrical device should have incensed them so much; it’s been around in one form or another since at least the 18th century, when Lully and Rameau had dancers alternating as body doubles with singers in the divertissements of their operas.

Brayden Harry, Keeley Tennyson and Lauren Fagan in Opera Australia’s Eugene Onegin, 2026. Photo © Keith Saunders

The response was warmer when Eugene Onegin premiered in Australia the following year – perhaps we were already accustomed to Graeme Murphy’s frequent use of dance doubles in works such as An Evening for Sydney Dance Company and The Trojans for Opera Australia.

Nevertheless, the negative response in the UK was enough to persuade Holten to tone down the use of dancers in a subsequent remount, and it is this version that is helmed here by Revival Director Heather Fairbairn.

Its basic premise remains. During the overture, Tatyana and Onegin are reunited at a ball in St...