Brisbane review - La bohème: emotionally powerful production

By David Wilson

La bohème

Composer Giacomo Puccini

Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giocosa

Conductor Umberto Clerici

Director Matt Reuben James Ward

Set & Costume Design Charles Davis

Lighting Christine Felmingham

Associate Director Laura Hansford

Choreographer Derek Deane OBE

Presented by Opera Queensland in collaboration with West Australian Opera

4 - 13 September 2025

Lyric Theatre QPAC

Performance length 2 hours 30 minutes including intermission

Performed in Italian with English surtitles

Tickets range from $79 to $189

https://www.oq.com.au/whats-on/la-boheme-2025

Opera Queensland’s 2025 staging of La bohème at QPAC is an emotionally powerful production that honours Puccini’s beloved score while offering audiences an insight into the bohemian life, love and loss. This co-production between Opera Queensland and West Australian Opera demonstrates how fresh insight and imaginative design can rejuvenate even the most familiar of works.

Director Matt Reuben James Ward relocates the narrative to a fragile, post-war Paris of the 1920s, a choice that enriches the tale without distorting it. The bohemian artists still grapple with poverty and passion, but now they are set against the backdrop of a society rebuilding itself, where youth clings to joy and hope with an urgency sharpened by uncertainty.

First performed in Turin in 1896, La bohème was composed by Giacomo Puccini with a libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, adapted from Henri Murger’s Scènes de la vie de bohème. From the outset, the opera struck a chord with audiences through its blend of lyrical immediacy and emotional truth. Today it remains one of the most frequently performed works in the operatic repertoire, beloved for its soaring arias, accessible storytelling and its unflinching portrayal of youthful passion and mortality. Its enduring popularity is a testament to Puccini’s ability to capture both the intimacy of individual lives and the universality of human experience.

Central to the production’s impact is Charles Davis’ set, an expansive glasshouse that visually dominates the stage. The revolving turntable on which it rests is a masterstroke. By shifting perspectives, it not only facilitates the different scenes, but also allows the audience to follow the characters’ journey with fluidity and provides a sense of continuity that mirrors the ebb and flow of their fortunes. The sensitive lighting by Christine Felmingham enhances this brilliantly, as does the wonderful use of fire and snow effects.

Underpinning the production is the wonderful Queensland Symphony Orchestra which, under the baton of Umberto Clerici, offers a reading of Puccini’s score that is expansive without being obtrusive.

Buoyed by the evocative setting and wonderful score, the performances shine with absolute conviction. Elena Perroni embodies the beautiful seamstress Mimì with grace and sincerity, her voice carrying both delicacy and strength as she charts the character’s tragic arc. Opposite her, Valerio Borgioni wonderfully balances a poet’s passion with painful vulnerability in a magnificent performance. Together, their duets achieve the emotional core that defines La bohème, their chemistry giving the unfolding tragedy all the more weight.

The wonderfully tumultuous relationship between Musetta and Marcello is brilliantly embodied by Nina Korbe and Samuel Dundas, while Luke Stoker as Colline and Jeremy Kleeman as Schaunard perfectly add to the camaraderie of the group with ease and warmth. Special mention also to the commitment of the full chorus, best showcased in the wonderfully boisterous Christmas Eve scene involving the complete cast at the square in which Cafe Momus is situated. Brilliantly done!

What makes this production particularly satisfying is its unity of vision. The design, lighting, staging, sound and costuming are as integral to the feeling and the telling of the story as the characters, all working together to evoke fragility, impermanence and the tension between comfort and uncertainty.

Opera Queensland’s La bohème is not only faithful to the beloved classic but is also an inspired reimagining brilliantly done. I thoroughly encourage you to see it.