Manners... modernised
Similar to Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton, the casting for NZ Opera’s new production does not adhere to historical accuracy on racial demographics, writes
Picture this — imperial Britain, 1814. Young, impoverished heroine Fanny Price is sent by her overloaded parents to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle at their majestic estate. Following Price as she transitions into adulthood and navigates love, social expectations, loneliness and ambition, Mansfield Park is considered one of English novelist Jane Austen’s more controversial works.
Now, the profound and sometimes problematic tale of manners, marriage and money has been reinterpreted for the stage, with New Zealand Opera due to debut its adaptation in Auckland and Wellington this month, with music composed by Jonathan Dove and libretto by Alasdair Middleton.
Head over heels for her cousin Edmund, who is captivated by their neighbour Mary, Fanny Price must decide if she can trust the intentions of Mary’s brother Henry, who has set his sights on her and who her uncle insists she accept.
Similar to the hit Netflix period drama series Bridgerton, and in New Zealand Opera’s typical future-forward fashion, the casting for the Regency-era story does not adhere to historical accuracy regarding racial demographics. The production will instead offer audiences a re-imagined version of history in which performers of colour occupy positions of power and influence that they might not have had in reality during the depicted time period.
The company’s casting is made solely on the basis of vocal excellence and suitability, dramatic believability and personal qualities including collegiality, says Brad Cohen, New Zealand Opera’s general director.
“Criteria we do not view as essential to our casting are size, skin colour, nationality, religion, gender or sexual orientation. The whole person, and what they bring to our productions in their wholeness, form the basis for our casting,” he says.
At times, this can lead to an entire cast being drawn from a specific community, as it did with last year’s (m)Orpheus production and its Pasifika headliners. At other times, the representation will be diverse.
Says Cohen: “This for us is the essence of honouring not only our communities and their visibility in our work, but also specific requirements a creative team may propose on occasion. We present opera for, in, and from Aotearoa New Zealand, employing and honouring our best artists. Our audiences tell us they both expect and appreciate this.”
In the Mansfield Park production, rising star tenor Taylor Wallbank, who is Māori and grew up in Flaxmere, Hastings, will take on the very British role of Henry Crawford, who has his eyes on Fanny.
Wallbank debuted his operatic career at 18 as Le Remendado in Festival Opera’s production of Carmen, and has since performed in that company’s La Traviata and Die Zauberflöte stagings, and the University of Waikato’s Tales of Hoffman and Gianni Schicchi. He’s studying a Master of Music in advanced opera studies under the tutelage of Kristin Darragh, who also happens to star in NZ Opera’s new Mansfield Park show as Lady Bertram.
“She’s my vocal tutor, so it’s a safe environment ... It’s quite comforting ... That’s my favourite part about it. I feel quite humbled to be able to hit the stage and actually do the job with them,” Wallbank says.
From singing in a barbershop choir in his teens and then being part of a youth opera initiative in Hawke’s Bay called Project Prima Volta, and becoming inspired as the Samoan-Kiwi musical trio Sol3 Mio gained fame, the now 25-year-old is excited to perform his first main role with the country’s national opera company. He says every day working in opera, he falls in love with something new.
After an audition last year, Wallbank was hand-picked by general director Cohen to sing the role of witty, charming, flirtatious Henry Crawford, who comes from the “polar opposite”, “prim and proper” background to the singer’s own. But the extreme polarity only grew Wallbank’s interest in the role more. “I like things that are just the complete opposite of me as a person. I have to become someone else... When I get off stage, I become myself again. But when I’m on stage I try to be the character. Even if it’s someone I don’t particularly like.”
While opera can typically be big and showy, Wallbank says his character – dressed, as the others, in extravagant period garb – is more subtle, and so the weeks-long rehearsal process has been intense as he’s mastered the intricacies of Crawford’s persona.
On what people can expect from Mansfield Park, Wallbank says it’s a relatable, relevant, “human” piece of art boasting sly comedy and even a moment of audience participation inside the intimate heritage venues, Wellington’s Public Trust Hall and Auckland’s Settlers Country Manor.
“It’s kind of like if you were sitting in a room and you were part of the family — almost part of the furniture at some points as well. It’s really inclusive.”