Opera For The Dead

OzAsia Festival

Odeon Theatre

6 November 2025

You know that a performance is going to be different when the audience cannot enter the theatre until the show has started and there is no seat number on the ticket. The reason becomes clear on entering the space to find no seats, what appears to be a stage in the middle of the space with a low hum emanating from woofers suspended from the ceiling with plastic oranges bouncing to the vibrations located all around the theatre, see picture above.

The audience are free to move around, enabling them to view the performance as the focus shifted around the space. The center stage was actually five individual stages, one for each of the artists, each separate and occasionally moved to a new position, with the gathered moving also.

But, of course, the main focus is the content and its subject. Obviously, this was going to be respectful and somber. The five artists were led by the plaintiff singing of Yu Tien Lin, one could feel the pain of missing the deceased in his voice, very emotional.

The idea that this is an opera is not really an accurate description. It comprised of several sections, each highlighting an individual performance, for example, Nils Hobiger’s stunning but mournful cello solo and Alexender Meager’s percussion. Mindy Meng Wang’s guzheng, a many stringed instrument was just beautiful and they were supported by Monica Lim’s electronics which joined the various segments together perfectly.

This is an unusual event, but that is not a criticism, the presentation focused on the subject matter and highlighted the emotional aspects, even though it was not sung in English. The aching caused by the death of a close one was patently expressed in both the voice and presentation.

An altogether compelling and wonderful performance.