Much of the creative team behind 2021’s delightful Noongar-language family opera Koolbardi wer Wardong (Magpie and Crow) returns here to tell a very different story, also in Noongar: that of doomed lovers Wundig wer Wilura, whose transgressive desires brought shame on their families and sealed their fates at the hands of Mubarn, the “Clever Man”.

WA Opera’s Wundig wer Wilura. Photo © Dylan Alcock

All the elements of grand opera, of the epic history play, are here: love and war, trust and betrayal, intimacy and the sublime. Hills person Wundig (a charismatic and charming Jarred Wall), fleet of foot and a great hunter, is already betrothed to Mandi (Bella McGill). Valley person Wilura (Jess Hitchcock, here in exceptional voice), a renowned beauty, is already betrothed to Gulambiddi (Jarrad Inman). They also happen to be cousins, and so a union between them would be forbidden, even if they were otherwise free.

But Wundig and Wilura fall in love and tragedy ensues as the amicable relationship between the two peoples deteriorates. War erupts and Mubarn (David Leha), in the best deus ex machina tradition, steps in to prevent further massacre.

In a series...