Mary Motorhead/Trade at Malthouse Theatre;
OPERA
Mary Motorhead/Trade ★★★★
Malthouse theatre, until 13 March
On the morning of the Australian premiere of Mary Motorhead/Trade, opera singers across the globe woke to an unexpected diss from one of Hollywood’s biggest names.
Timothée Chalamet, in conversation with fellow actor Matthew McConaughey, said he didn’t want to be working in, “ballet or opera where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore’.” Cue the horned helmets – opera singers and companies came out swinging, thousands of posts and videos filled social media showing packed houses with protestations decrying Chalamet’s comments.
This Irish double bill by composer Emma O’Halloran is about as far from the powdered wigs and screeching sopranos of Chalamet’s imagination, as it could possibly get.
Motorhead is a 30-minute, one-woman show, set in a place Dubliners sardonically call, “The Joy”, Mountjoy Prison, where we hear a young woman’s sorry tale of how she ended up stabbing her boyfriend in the head. Trade focuses on a transactional relationship between Older Man and Younger Man, who meet for sex in a seedy hotel room. Both operas were originally plays by the composer’s uncle, Mark O’Halloran.
Between the subject matter, the close proximity of the performers and the amplified chamber ensemble (including electronica) the intensity never lets up. There are no attempts at levity, each character traverses a deeply unsettling past, arriving at an apex of explosive rage or acute pain.
The Australian Contemporary Opera Company has assembled an all-Australian trio of singers for each of these tremendously difficult, Irish-accented roles. It’s a fickle one to nail, with its distinctive broad and slender vowels, and was inconsistent across the board.
Emily Edmonds is commanding as the unhinged Mary. The climactic moment where she exclaims she “split him open” is felt viscerally. Despite Mary’s relentless fury, Edmonds’ beautifully even and coloured mezzo still shone through, though in wild outbursts.
Tenor Callum McGing as Younger Man has a lot of one-word lines, though he makes the most of a brilliant countertenor-like quality he possesses when afforded the opportunity. His insecurity and brokenness were thoroughly believable.
Seasoned baritone Christopher Hillier gives the performance of his career as Older Man. This is a singer with supreme command of his voice; sometimes cold and dark, then evoking a burnished melancholy or desperate fragility at others. The scene unfolds in a profoundly unnerving manner; Hillier was visibly exhausted when it was finally over. It was exhausting just watching it.
Irish conductor Elaine Kelly has now premiered these works across three continents, and her expert hand seamlessly weaves techno with chamber ensemble, including saxophone and electric guitar. O’Halloran’s scores are a coup for contemporary opera.
Mozart might not be for our aforementioned motormouth actor, perhaps someone could convince him to try Mary Motorhead instead.
Reviewed by Bridget Davies
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