Opera Queensland’s new production ain’t your average Baroque chamber opera.

Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane

February 21, 2014

Dancers and singers cavort about with sensual grace. A soprano sings atop what appears to be a human pyramid. The set is somewhat alarmingly dismantled as the recital bounces along. There is no plot that I could see; there are no characters. The continuo part isn’t even played on harpsichord!

It’s certainly not the way Handel would have imagined his lovely music performed; it’s all a bit naughty, a bit too fun. Nonetheless, Opera Queensland pulls off a masterpiece in Abandon, a new work created for the international World Theatre Festival at the Powerhouse in Brisbane. The show, produced in collaboration with Dancenorth contemporary dance company, is a wilfully eclectic mixture of contemporary dance and choreography set to a cycle of Baroque arias – all Handel – sung by a quartet of vocalists.

Abandon rarely slows down. There is never just one place to fix your attention – the sheer number of things happening at once lent the performance a sense of theatre – a sense of energy throughout the entire cast. Even cellist Teije Hylkema and accompanist James Crabb join in the relentless dance for...