REVIEW: Kym Vaitiekus shares his thoughts on GILGAMESH

REVIEW: Kym Vaitiekus shares his thoughts on GILGAMESH

Thursday 26th September 7:30pm, Bay 17 Carrigaeworks

Opera Australia and the Sydney Chamber Opera present a new Australian work, GILGAMESH.

Composer Jack Symonds' grandest piece to date. Along with librettist Louis Garrick and Director Kip Williams they have created a monumental new work.

Gilgamesh is the semi-mythic King of Uruk best known as the hero of the the great Babylonian  Poem and Mesopotamian Epic: The Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2150-1400 BCE)

We enter the Carriageworks vast performance space to observe a majestic tree with golden leaves splayed across the stage in sawn sections. On the base stump is Gilgamesh (Jeremy Kleeman) drenched in blood, holding a chainsaw.

To the side, The Australian String Quartet and the Ensemble Offspring led by Symonds himself, encase us in an ethereal audio environment. The Opera Begins.

Ishtar (Jane Sheldon), the goddess of love, informs her priestess Shamhat (Jessica O’Donoghue) that Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, is a tyrant.

To counter him, the gods create Enkidu (Mitchell Riley), a half-man, half-beast. Shamhat finds Enkidu and, using her mystical powers, transforms him into a civilized being and leads him to Uruk.

Enkidu, initially in awe of the city, challenges Gilgamesh after hearing of his cruelty. They fight but eventually become close friends. Gilgamesh reveals his desire to cut down the Forest of Cedar and defeat its guardian, Humbaba (Daniel Szeisong Todd). Enkidu hesitates, but they embark on the mission together.

Unable to sleep, Gilgamesh describes a recurring dream. When they realize it’s about Enkidu, they grow closer and consummate their connection.

After defeating Humbaba, they return triumphant, but Ishtar, upset with their success, tries to seduce Gilgamesh. When he rejects her, she sends the Bull of Heaven to punish him. Gilgamesh defeats the bull, but Uruk is left in ruins, and Ishtar promises further retribution.

Enkidu falls into delirium and dies, leaving Gilgamesh grief-stricken and desperate to escape death. He ventures into the desert seeking Uta-Napishti (Jesica O’Donoghue), the only human granted immortality.

After a challenging journey through the Mountains of Mashu and the Waters of Death, he reaches Uta-Napishti, who tells him that immortality is unattainable for mortals and sings of his own path to eternal life. Gilgamesh, seeking the same fate, tries to sing his own song but is overcome with self-doubt and realization. Transformed by this profound experience, he returns to Uruk with a new understanding.

Gilgamesh's journey is a profound exploration of emotions, marked by friendship, loss, fear, and the quest for immortality. His quest challenges him on pride, loneliness. grief, despair and eventually acceptance.

Symonds’ GILGAMESH is an epic work that explores a sensual human relationship portrayed by two baritones in a love duet.

Symonds and Williams aim to break new ground with sparse yet grandiose visuals in a fierce and physical work that includes creative endeavours, like Sheldon’s “scream singing”.

Kleeman’s magnificent and vehement voice exudes the gravitas that creates a powerful and commanding GILGAMESH. His exemplary voice is enhanced by his impressive layered performance. The passion, verve and intensity from Kleeman and Riley are extraordinary.

Riley’s interpretation of Enkidu is astonishing. The physicality of his performance is exceptional which melds with his multi emotional characteristics, that he depicts with aplomb. On this occasion there was a slip and he fell with what looked like a severe hit. The graze was visible on his chest but not a dent in his performance, see the show for Riley alone.

Williams direction insures that both Sheldon and O'Donoghue bring their expert qualities and attributes to the table, their performances have the same depth and gravitas and along with Todd, this is a sublime ensemble in this new Opera.

Set Design by Elizabeth Gadsby is wonderfully contemporary with a the grandiose of ancient times. It's impressive that they follow ecological concerns with the tree as their main stage element but it's astounding that they added the each of the gold leaves by hand. With no spoilers the end scene wonderfully grounds the symbolism of the tree based set.

David Fleischer's costume design is divine. Inventive and striking looks that emphasis the emotional drama of the work and these accents weave into the set design beautifully. 

I am the first to admit I’m not an opera aficionado and I suffer from the common naive opinion that opera is a slow melodrama with inaccessible music and I always wonder about the notion that an English production adds/needs surtitles.  But I was completely engrossed and thoroughly riveted with this production. It's an emotional spectacle.

Williams direction along with the talented team have excelled in this new telling of the epic of GILGAMESH. 

Photography @  Daniel Boud

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