Three Marys
Terror. Survival. Hope. Experience this hauntingly beautiful chamber opera, which tells the powerful story of three women’s journey at sea in exile from their homeland.
In the Playhouse | View Seating Map | Chamber Opera
COVID-19 safety information
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We’re committed to making your experience safe, comfortable and enjoyable, with a number of measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. We encourage you to wear a mask in indoor settings or when physical distancing can’t be maintained, and please stay home if you feel unwell. If you need to discuss your ticketing or booking options, contact our Box Office team on 02 9250 7777.
Thursday 11th May to Saturday 13th May 2023
Thursday 11th May 2023 7:00pm
Friday 12th May 2023 7:00pm
Saturday 13th May 2023 2:00pm
Saturday 13th May 2023 7:00pm
Standard tickets $65 | $8.95 Booking Fee applies per transaction
Ticket | Description & price |
---|---|
Standard | $65 |
Under 30s | $40 |
Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. Exact prices will be displayed with seat selection. Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied at all times
The authorised ticket agency for this event is the Sydney Opera House. For more information about Authorised Agencies, see the FAQ below.
This performances runs for approximately 85 minutes, with no interval
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
Suitable for all ages
Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied at all times
A dynamic new chamber opera for our times
Three Marys melds music, myth and imagination to create a moving story of exile, survival and hope.
An international collaboration by award-winning artists composer Andrée Greenwell and librettist Christine Evans, this fully staged chamber opera tells an intergenerational story of a family of women who must flee for their lives.
Inspired by the French medieval legend of the biblical Three Marys, the tale follows the perilous journey of Maria, Magdalena and Sarah-Marie as they are banished from their homeland and forced out to sea in an oarless boat.
On their journey they encounter the opera’s Teen Chorus, the spirits of refugee children lost at sea – their memories and their names slipping away. Only Marzoug the fisherman is anchored to the land, by his promise to honour the stories of those thrown back by the ocean. He keeps watch.
Stripped to the raw elements of exile, the ocean, and survival, the women’s voices echo across the ages as people from all backgrounds still undertake desperate ocean journeys in search of refuge.
Presented by Sydney Opera House.
A Green Room Music Production.
Supporter and Funding Acknowledgements
Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – an Australian Government initiative
Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
NSW Government through Create NSW
Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals (CAIAF)
Opera Queensland
Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC)
Australian Cultural Fund (ACF)
Inner West Council
George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation
Credits
Cast
Sarah Marie: Samantha Hargreaves
Magdalena: Jessica O’Donoghue
Maria: Heru Pinkasova
Marzoug: Eddie Muliaumaseali'i
Featured Choral Vocalist: Charbel Moussa
Teen Chorus: NSW Public Schools Singers, The Arts Unit
Creatives
Composer: Andrée Greenwell
Librettist: Christine Evans
Director/Dramaturg: Angela Chaplin
Conductor: Simon Kenway
Choral Director: Elizabeth Scott
Set and Costume Designer: Anna Tregloan
Lighting Designer: Damien Cooper
Production
Producers: Robert Love and Sean Moloney
Production Manager: Neil Simpson
Executive Producer: Andrée Greenwell
A Green Room Music production
Andrée Greenwell
COMPOSER
Andrée Greenwell is a multi-award-winning composer with a catalogue of over 100 scores for concert, opera, music theatre, drama, dance, film and installation. She has created music for Australia’s leading performing arts organisations including Sydney Theatre Company, Symphony Australia, Australian Dance Theatre, The Sydney Front, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare, Malthouse and Queensland Music Festival.
Growing up in Melbourne’s post-punk era while studying classical flute and composition at the VCA, her music blends classical music traditions, the cinematic score, and popular music subcultures. Her impressive output includes the groundbreaking chamber Sweet Death, commissioned by Chamber Made Opera for Melbourne International Festival of the Arts in 1991. She recently composed and sound designed John Janson-Moore’s film installation Contact Trace, narrated by Uncle Jack Charles, awarded Best Experimental Film, Solaris Film Festival, Nice.
As artistic director of Green Room Music, Andrée is a leading creator of independent music theatre in Australia, frequently collaborating with contemporary writers. Her long form works Dreaming Transportation, The Villainelles, Laquiem, Gothic and The Hanging of Jean Lee variously received presentations at Sydney Festival, Riverside Parramatta, the Seymour Centre, Melbourne Arts Centre, Arts House and Sydney Opera House. The Hanging of Jean Lee and Dreaming Transportation were studio-recorded at the ABC studios, Ultimo, for various feature broadcasts.
Andrée holds a Doctorate of Creative Arts from the University of Wollongong.
Christine Evans
LIBRETTIST
Originally from Perth, Christine Evans now lives and works on Piscataway and Nacotchtank land in Washington, DC. Her writing spans dramatic genres (plays, opera) and fiction. Her plays are published by Samuel French (Trojan Barbie) and have been developed and produced at venues including Belvoir Street Theater, HERE Arts (NYC), the American Repertory Theater and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Galilee was a finalist for the Lysicrates Award (2018) and premieres at Philadelphia’s Azuka Theater in 2023.
Christine’s new novel, Nadia, is forthcoming in the US in 2023 from the University of Iowa Press; her novel-in-verse, Cloudless, was published by UWAP (2015). Recent honors include a 2020 Howard Foundation Award, three MacDowell Fellowships and five DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Fellowships. Christine holds an MFA and PhD from Brown University and currently serves as Professor of Performing Arts at Georgetown University.
www.christineevanswriter.com
Angela Chaplin OAM
Angela is a director, dramaturg, writer and producer. She has directed numerous productions over her forty year career, commissioned many writers and worked with numerous other collaborators.
Angela has been Artistic Director of three theatre companies in Australia - Arena Theatre, Magpie Theatre and Deckchair Theatre. She was also the Executive Director of Ausdance Qld. She is currently a Producer at Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Angela has directed for many of Australia’s most significant arts companies including Chamber Made Opera, Belvoir, Sydney Theatre Company, Opera Qld, Black Swan, The State Theatre Company of South Australia, Handspan and Theatre North.
Her works have toured nationally and internationally, and Angela has directed for companies in several other countries including Japan, Venezuela and India. Her achievements have also been recognised with both national and international awards. These include Best New Production – Fringe First Award, Edinburgh Fringe Festival; Best Director – Actors Equity Awards Western Australia and Best New Script – Australian Writers’ Guild.
Angela lives on Magandjin the lands of the Yuggera and Turrbal people. Lands that were never ceded.
Anna Tregloan
Anna Tregloan is an artist and designer working with sculptural and live elements, text, image and audience in public spaces, galleries and theatres. She creates innovative and human friendly environments to explore complex ideas in a practice focused on audience driven experience and utilising found objects and actions. She aims to inspire curiosity and empathy and to enable audience to moderate their own experience and eschew top down directorial approaches.
She collaborates extensively with cultural institutions and independent artists in the fields of visual art, contemporary theatre, dance, opera and contemporary museum practice. She has presented work throughout urban and regional Australia and internationally and honoured to have been nominated and awarded state, national and international awards for design and creation including an Australia Council Fellowship (Theatre, 2012). Previously she was Artistic Resident at Malthouse Theatre, is an AsiaLink alumni and is currently a Creative Resident at Powerhouse MAAS.
Damien Cooper APDG
Damien is a lighting designer working in theatre, opera and dance. He has designed over 300 shows. Damien’s career highlights include Neil Armfield’s production of THE RING CYCLE for Opera Australia, EXIT THE KING on Broadway starring Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon, Graeme Murphy’s SWAN LAKE for the Australian Ballet which was presented in New York, London, Paris and Tokyo, KEATING! THE MUSICAL, Australia’s most successful subsidised theatre show ever, and Australian Dance Theatre’s BIRDBRAIN which played over 60 venues around the world.
Damien has won three Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Lighting Design and four Green Room awards for Best Lighting Design. He won the Australian Production Designers Guild inaugural Award for Lighting Design for his work on Opera Australia’s DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN, and the Showreelfinder Award for Live Performance Lighting Design for THE GLASS MENAGERIE at Belvoir.
Jessica O’Donoghue
Jessica is a performer, composer and new music advocate. She was the recipient of the 2021 APRA/AMCOS Art Music awards for ‘Performance of the Year – Notated Composition’, a Fellowship from AIM for ‘Outstanding Achievements & Services to the Australian Music & Performing Arts Industry’ as well as a 2021 Women In Music Mentorship from Australian Independent Records Association.
Jessica appears frequently with Sydney Chamber Opera Company and The Song Company and has featured at major venues and festivals in Australia including Sydney Opera House, Carriageworks, Melbourne Recital Hall, City Recital Hall, Sydney Festival, Vivid Sydney, Dark MOFO, Carols in the Domain, SCG, MCG, as well as multiple international festivals in Europe and Asia. In 2022 Jessica released her second album to critical acclaim “One of the most enrapturing vocal albums of the year. Absolutely breathtaking” - Dario (The Progspace).
Samantha Hargreaves
Soprano Samantha Hargreaves holds a Master of Music (Opera Performance) from The University of Melbourne. During her studies she sang the title role in The Coronation of Poppea, Pamina in The Magic Flute, Nella in Gianni Schicchi and Beth in Little Women (Adamo). With the Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program in 2022, she performed the principal roles of Hannchen in Die Opernprobe (Lorzing) and Reserl in Der häusliche Krieg (Schubert).
In 2022, she won the John Fulford Prize in the Herald Sun Aria competition and an Acclaim Ambassadorial Scholarship (The Acclaim Awards). In 2021, she received the Bettine McCaughan Memorial Scholarship (ANATS) and the Melbourne Male Welsh Choir named her ‘Singer of the Year.’
Samantha is an artist with Melba Opera Trust for a second year. In September, she will begin a two-year Artist Masters (Opera Studies) at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on full scholarship.
Heru Pinkasova
Port Moresby-born operatic soprano Heru Pinkasova was raised in Cairns, then studied in Brisbane and the Czech Rep. A uniquely versatile talent, in 2022, she premiered her autobiographical work Bilum Mamma comprising of traditional PNG music sung in Roro and Motua language through to the classical operatic canon.
In recent years Heru sang in Karna language for The Beginning of Nature with Australian Dance Theatre, joining them for their European & Australian tours. For Adelaide Fringe Festival & Judith Wright Centre, Heru performed with Hot Brown Honey Cabaret. In 2014 Heru played Queenie in Show Boat for The Production Company, Melbourne. She has worked with Opera Queensland for many years in mainstage productions, school residencies, new work developments and is a Young Artist alumni. In 2021 she collaborated with award-winning Queensland beatboxer Dr Rhythm creating Songs My Aunties Taught Me in a convention-busting blend of opera and contemporary beats.
Eddie Muliaumaseali'i
Playing the role of Wotan in Melbourne Opera's production of Wagner's Das Rhinegold was the highlight of Eddie Muliaumaseali'i' 35 year career in Opera, Music Theatre, Television and Drama. He has sung roles in NZ, Australia, Asia, Europe and the USA.
A member of the Tiroler Landestheatre, Innsbruck, Austria, after being chosen by the Intendantin, Brigitte Fassbender, enabled him to achieve his goal of being an operatic soloist in Europe.
Versatility in the arts has seen him play roles in music theatre culminating in a Helpmann award nomination for playing the role of Joe in Showboat singing the famous song, Old Man River. He has recently sung with The Toshi Clinch Big Band in Duke Ellington's Sacred Works.
From Porgy to Mephistopheles to Sarastro and Lepperello, to Beggar, Devil, High Priest to servant, Eddie Muliaumaseali'i' bass voice has enjoyed an adventurous journey on the stage.
Elizabeth Scott
Elizabeth Scott is a Lecturer in Choral Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney and the Associate Music Director of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. She is a graduate of Symphony Australia’s Conductor Development Program, was awarded the Sydney Choral Symposium Foundation Choral Conducting Scholarship in 2008 and completed her Doctorate in Choral Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2021.
Elizabeth has been the Musical Director of Vox, Sydney Philharmonia’s youth choir since 2008 and has built this ensemble into one of Australia’s leading youth choirs. She regularly works as a chorus master for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and has prepared choirs for conductors including David Robertson, Simone Young and Charles Dutoit. Elizabeth is in demand as a studio session conductor and has performed and recorded with Pinchgut Opera and The Song Company.
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Venue Information
Performances are being sold to 100% capacity in line with the NSW Public Health Order. This includes all shows in the Concert Hall, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Studio, Playhouse, Drama Theatre, Utzon Room and Forecourt. Please note that you will be seated directly alongside other ticketholders.
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars. Please remember to maintain physical distancing whilst consuming drinks in our foyers.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer consistent with COVID-safe rules.
Transport options
- We encourage you to use private transport options to minimise crowding on public transport (in line with NSW Government advice).
- The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see their website for details.
- Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel and COVID-19 safety measures. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a 6 min walk to the Opera House.
What safety measures have you implemented?
Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of everyone on site, and we are closely following NSW Health guidelines and advice. The Sydney Opera House is registered as a COVID Safe business with the NSW Government. For detailed information about our COVID-19 safety measures and what’s required of you when visiting, please see our plan your visit page.
What am I required to do as an audience member?
Face masks are strongly recommended for all patrons while inside our theatres and foyers, including during the performance. Please bring your own mask.
As you move around the Opera House, practise physical distancing (1.5 metres whenever possible) and follow the guidance provided by our staff and signage.
Within venues, always take your allocated seat.
For detailed information about our COVID-19 safety measures and what’s required of you, please see our plan your visit page.
Do I need to be vaccinated to visit the Sydney Opera House?
The Sydney Opera House no longer requires patrons to show that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Am I required to wear a mask?
Face masks are strongly recommended for all patrons while inside our theatres and foyers, including during the performance. Please bring your own mask.
How are you managing contact tracing?
Contact information is required when making a booking with us and upon arrival at the Opera House, as set out in our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events and our Customer Privacy Statement.
As the ticket purchaser, you are responsible for recording the contact details of your guests. Contact information will only be used for the purposes of contact tracing, if required, and will be deleted at least 28 days after your event.
Frequently Asked Questions - Performance and Venue
Can my family sit together?
Tickets purchased early will be sold in family groups within a designated seating zone, tickets purchased closer to the event will be sold in pairs. Please bear in mind that this will be subject to the restrictions in place at that time. Your confirmed seating allocation will be provided to you on the day of the performance when you receive your eTickets. To ensure correct capacities, all people in the theatre must hold a valid ticket. This includes babies aged 0-11 months who can be seated on a parents knee with the purchase of a Babes in Arm ticket ($10). Children 12 months and older will need to hold a standard ticket.
What time do I need to arrive before the event?
Ticket purchases and collection at our Box Office is discouraged and eTicket or postal delivery methods should be used, wherever possible. However, if you are collecting your tickets from the Box Office, we recommend doing this at least 60 minutes before the event starts. If you have already received your tickets, the venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. It is encouraged that you take your seats as soon as you arrive.
If you are late, we will seat you as soon as we can and, where possible, in your allocated seat. However, to reduce movement in the venue as well as minimise disruption to the performance and other patrons, ticketholders may be seated in an allocated latecomer’s seat. Please be aware that some events have lock-out periods. In these cases, latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance. On occasions, this may not be until the interval, or at all where there is no interval.
Ticketholders must comply with the directions of Opera House ushers to assist with contact tracing.
Details of our right to refuse admission can be found in our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Events.
Will there be bag checks, and is cloaking available?
In line with our venue security procedures, Opera House security will be scanning and checking bags under the Monumental Stairs, prior to entering the building. Bags will be scanned by an x-ray machine, and staff will wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling your belongings, such as gloves. Cloaking facilities will be open 60 minutes pre-show for Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 60 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. However it is strongly encouraged that you travel lightly to minimise contact and queuing. Any bags larger than an A4 piece of paper will need to be checked into the Cloak Room.
Can my baby sit on my lap?
- All audience members, including babies, are counted toward the allowable capacity and must hold a valid ticket for admission.
- A specific children’s price may be available on certain events. On others a standard ticket price may apply.
- For our Sydney Opera House Presents programming, babies aged 0-11 months at the time of a performance may be seated on a parent’s lap but they must hold a valid Babes in Arms ticket ($10) and children aged 12 months and older will need to hold a standard ticket.
- Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied at all times.
Does my child need to wear a face mask?
Children under the age of 12 are not required to wear a face mask.
Who are the authorised ticket sellers for this event?
The authorised agency for this event is Sydney Opera House.
Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered reliable. If you purchase tickets from a non-authorised agency such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or any other unauthorised seller you risk that these tickets are fake, void or have previously been cancelled. RESALE RESTRICTION APPLIES. For more details, please refer to our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events.
What if I can't come to my performance?
Please contact Box Office on 9250 7777 as soon as possible to advise if you can no longer attend. If you can no longer attend because you are unwell, or have been in contact with someone displaying COVID-19 symptoms, the Opera House has introduced flexible ticketing options to help you, find out more information here.
Will there be food and beverages available to be purchased in the venue?
- Foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
- Drinks purchased at our theatre bars can also be taken into venues for most performances.
- The venue doors will be open 30 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. It is encouraged that you take your seats as soon as you arrive.
- Please bring a credit or debit card for any on site purchases to enable contactless payment. You’re welcome to bring your own water bottle but no other food and drinks are permitted inside our venues. Opera Bar, House Canteen and Portside are also available for you to enjoy.
Will there be pram parking at kids performances?
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to the foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer adhering to COVID-safe rules.
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