My enduring memory of Operabox’s production of Massenet’s Manon will be Jenna Robertson radiant in orange brocaded silk and exuding charisma. Her Manon was a heroine full of ambiguities and I couldn’t steal my eyes from her remarkably expressive face.

^{Jenna Robertson as Manon. Photograph courtesy of Operabox}

Since founding Operabox in 2011, Robertson has made a significant contribution to supporting emerging singers and broadening the operatic repertoire for Western Australian audiences. Operabox’s most recent production was a sensational fully staged Ariadne auf Naxos complete with orchestra and chorus and I had high expectations of their similarly ambitious Manon.

Director Joseph Restubog and his design team (Laura Heffernan set, Stephanie Cullingford costumes, Beth Ewell lighting) set the opera in the egalitarian Paris of the roaring twenties where Manon is bewitched by glamorous flappers and exotic nightclubs. A projection of mottled blue paint formed the backdrop to a nuts and bolts set and assorted (mostly) period costumes (oh how some government funding could make a difference here!).

We met Manon bubbling with schoolgirl sweetness and on her way to the convent; “That’s the story of Manon” she explained to des Grieux. Robertson captured every...