Poster Design by Margaret Woodward
To Traverse Water
An Opera in Two Parts Sung in Ecclesiastical & Modern Greek
By Constantine Koukias
By Constantine Koukias
| 1995 | Melbourne International Festival of the Arts |
| 1995 | Greek Festival of Sydney |
| 1992 | Premiere - Abel Tasman Festival, Hobart |
"From the roof hang a half-dozen fishing boats, mechanised oars sweeping the air, a potent image holding this story of human transport together."
"... devastating in its restraint, simplicity and gravity... It demands your surrender, and deserves it."
Deborah Jones - The Australian
"an extraordinary example of cutting-edge music theatre."
James Waites - The Sydney Morning Herald
To Traverse Water is an opera that depicts a young Greek woman’s departure for Australia and her settlement there. Her tale is loosely based on that of composer Constantine Koukias’ mother, who tremulously departed from a small village in Northern Greece to Sydney, Australia, to marry a man from her home town, whom she barely knew.
The work blends instrumental music, operatic singing, folk song, drama, dance, light sculpture, art installations and film to create a hybrid performance piece. Sung in Ecclesiastical and Modern Greek, the text is drawn from fragments of the Old Testament, the New Testament, Greek folk songs, the I Ching, the Divine Liturgy, and the writings of Kostas Gionis, Vasiliki Koukias (Constantine’s mother) and Koukias himself.
Beginning at one end of Princes Wharf Shed - the audience follows the character Despina as she travels across the water to an unknown future - Australia in the 1950s. The narrative takes the audience from the ritualistic images of Greece to icons of suburban Australia, exploring the immigrant’s cultural displacement. The audience traverses water with her and re-enacts, with her, the great mythical journeys of antiquity, the odysseys that are a process of both internal and external discovery.
| Creative Team | |
| Music and Direction | Constantine Koukias |
| Libretto | Vasiliki Koukias & Costa Gionis |
| Production Design | Ann E Wulff |
| In association with visual artists Stuart Vaskess, Evangelos Sakaris, Brian Parkes & Ben Blakebrough | |
| Original Lighting Design | Jan Wawrzynczak |
| Jan Wawrzynczak’s design realised by Neil Simpson | |
| Choreography | Christos Linou |
| Music Director | Adrian Keating |
| Projection Artist | Jason James |
| Sound Design | Greg Gurr |
| Venue Liaison | Robert Morris-Nunn |
| Costume & Wig Design | Robin Riley |
| Surtitles & Slide Projection | Carl Higgs |
| Act 2 Film Sequence | Hugh McSpedden |
| Streaming Media from To Traverse Water | |
| Spirits of the Hills Hoist |
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| The Calm Beneath Our Feet |
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| Do Not Be Afraid |
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| Angel Bringeth, Angel Taketh Away |
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| Seek Your Destiny |
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| Today A Wedding Is Taking Place |
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Floor Plan (PDF)
To Traverse Water 1992 Program (PDF)
To Traverse Water 1995 Program (PDF)
Reviews for To Traverse Water
Article - The Age, 1995. (PDF)
Review - The Australian, 1995. (PDF)
Review - The Mercury, 1992 (PDF)
Article - Shirley Apthorp, 1992 (PDF)
Review - Sydney Morning Herald, 1995 (PDF)
Article - Sydney Morning Herald, 1995 (PDF)
Review - Opera Opera, 1992 (PDF)
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Photography by Ann E. Wulff
