‘Gilgamesh’ is a truly epic opera

Jack Symonds’ Gilgamesh brings to Australian audiences a world premier of truly epic proportions.

Presented at the huge Bay 17 at Carriageworks in Redfern, this ancient, perhaps the oldest, tale of Mesopotamian mythology was recorded in Sumerian script in the late 2nd millennium BC.

It tells of the great king Gilgamesh (played by Jeremy Kleeman), a monstrous tyrant who, through the experience of finding true love – in this case a homo-erotic affair with the wild man Enkidu (Mitchell Riley) – and the tragedy of losing that same love, ­achieves maturity and self-awareness.

This grand production is presented through the collaboration of a talented Australian cast, and crew, including the inimitable Kip Williams (director), who makes use of the huge stage to convey this primeval blockbuster to Aussie spectators.

The creation of Set Designer Elizabeth Gadsby, a huge felled Chinese Elm lies diagonally across the vast stage, cut into blocks and large branches that are used by the actors in relating this saga.

David Fleischer is responsible for the spectacular costumes, including Ishtar’s sparkling red body suit, Gilgamesh’s long golden skirt, and the Scorpion’s sombrero and clawed gloves.

Lighting Designer Amelia Lever-Davidson throws her beams across a large space, and lights up the back wall which is a portal to another world.

The staging is perfectly suited to the electronic score, which is superbly conducted by the composer himself, and brilliantly executed by the Sydney Chamber Orchestra.

It is a long show, some two hours and forty minutes, including an interval of twenty minutes. This provides the audience with a much-needed breather in this ancient tale of epic proportions told by five performers, eleven musicians, some fourteen crew and the maestro himself.

It’s not often Sydney audiences are offered such a spectacular world premier created by our own home-grown talent. See it before it takes off on an inevitably wildly successful round-the-world tour.

Gilgamesh
Until October 5
Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street Eveleigh
https://carriageworks.com.au/events/gilgamesh-2024/