"Opera Australia’s new production by Kate Gaul, using an English translation by Gaul and Michael Gow, takes a somewhat different path to more traditional productions. The action occurs on a set designed by Michael Yeargan for a production of Werther in 1989 – essentially the repurposing of a large room with a sloping entrance from upstage, in which a curtain is slung across the stage at various times to create two separate playing areas. If one is looking for the magical stage effects that are used in many productions of the opera, one might be disappointed as this low-key, laid-back version avoids dazzle, and is focused on other aspects of the opera: celebrating a sense of shared humanity in the face of life’s trials on a journey towards the ideals of enlightenment; focused on happiness, tolerance of difference, and respect for knowledge and truth. Like many contemporary productions, it ignores the more controversial aspects of the original version.

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The opera is essentially a conflict between light and darkness embodied in the figures of Sarastro and the Queen of the Night (who are husband and wife in this production), but the journey here ends in a sense of joyous reconciliation rather than banishment. The colourful and effective costumes suggest everyday life – contemporary street clothes, with only fleeting glimpses of bling and glitter; these are ordinary folk going about their business. The production’s design and performance focus is on a world which is under threat from natural forces over which we have little control but ignore at our peril. It ends with a sense of hope as all gather for the finale dressed in vivid beach apparel." Michael Halliwell, Australian Book Review