The West Australian Opera Bans CARMEN for Two Years Because of Smoking Scenes

The West Australian Opera has decided to ban performances of "Carmen" for two years because it depicts smoking. It is not staging the opera in order to comply with a sponsorship deal with Healthway, a state health agency. This decision is provoking criticism and debate in Australia.

The West Australian Opera is a state-owned opera company based in Perth. It was considering a 2015 staging of Bizet's opera. Now, the ban will last during a two-year sponsorship with Healthway worth $400,000 Australian dollars.

The sponsorship deal was made public on Wednesday, and on Thursday Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the opera company's decision "political correctness gone crazy."

Mr. Abott told a Melbourne radio station that Opera is "an exaggeration and if we are running around looking to take offense or looking to spread some politically correct message, just about every opera would be forbidden."

The Healthway chairwoman, Rosanna Capolingua, said her board was "quite surprised" by the opera general manager Carolyn Chard's offer of a "Carmen" ban. "They brought that to us," Ms. Capolingua said, "and we said: 'fine.' It was their choice and their decision." Ms. Chard said in an interview with The West Australian newspaper that the company would not portray "any activities that could be seen to promote unhealthy behavior."

A publicist for the company said it planned to perform "Carmen" in 2017, after the Healthway deal has expired.

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Photo Courtesy of The West Australian Opera's website