Gilgamesh

From that clay script, librettist Louis Garrick reassembles these ancient, atomistic gods. To divert Gilgamesh from his sins (he’s part-god himself), they create a half-man, half-beast, Enkidu. The long-limbed, circus-trained Mitchell Riley is outstanding as this so-called “offspring of silence”, Riley’s body as agile as his ethereal trills and vocal range are remarkable.  Enkidu is seduced by the priestess Shamhat (a raunchy Jessica O’Donaghue) who moulds him upright ready for presentation at Palace Sublime.

To one side of this huge stage floor at Carriageworks, composer Jack Symonds conducts his own opera with the Australian String Quartet merged with the rich instrumental strengths of the Ensemble Offspring, led by percussionist Claire Edwards.  His score is dissonant and elemental, light on melodies but heavily expressive dramatically, perfectly attuned to the heightened theatricality of director Kip Williams and five performers who seem fit for anything.

Gilgamesh (a deep voiced Jeremy Gleeman) embraces Enkidu like a brother, and convinces him to join the king in wantonly cutting down the Forest of Cedar, defying its guardian god. As the two later consummate their mutual love amongst the golden leaves, this production so perfectly balances metaphysical worlds with such affecting human intimacy.  When Enkidu is later marked for death by gods angry at the environmental devastation, Riley is riveting as he describes in song his own celestial end.

An enormous fallen tree, its trunk sliced into pieces, dominates Elizabeth Gadsby’s space, which is constantly showered with silver and gilt foils, and soon heavy trails of blood.  Two vast doors occasionally swing open on new worlds and astonishing beams of light (Amelia Lever-Davidson), while David Fleisher’s mystical masks and fetishist costuming of near naked bodies adds to the impact.

Alone, Gilgamesh is so grief stricken that even the ferocious scorpion men (O’Donaghue and Jane Sheldon, both SCO foundation performers) are so moved they let him pass to the world’s edge and the waters of death.  He mets the mythical boatman (Daniel Szeisong Todd) who also takes pity and helps him to the island; there the immortal Uta-Napishti (O’Donaghue) prompts Gilgamesh to question his history and be transformed.

Symond’s full length contemporary opera may not be for all ears but it is so well couched in this production. It bristles with theatrical inventiveness and humanity from Williams and his creative team; they fantastically exploit the epic warehouse space but still deeply connect to us. We are there with Gilgamesh as he tracks what is also our own search to understand our life and universe.  

The result is an uplifting, almost transcendental experience, a new opera fully born, thanks to this  notable collaboration between Sydney Chamber Opera, Opera Australia and Carriageworks combined with the Australian String Quartet and Ensemble Offspring.

And at the centre is this masterful, now sixth collaboration between director Kip Williams, soon to depart as AD of Sydney Theatre Company, and composer Jack Symonds, who for a decade is AD of SCO. 

Martin Portus

Images: Gilgamesh. Presented by Opera Australia, Sydney Chamber Opera & Carriageworks. Photo Credit: Daniel Boud.