Victorian Opera | Mozart’s Abduction 

12 August 2025, Palais Theatre, St Kilda, VIC

There was something fresh, cheeky and wonderfully entertaining about the Victorian Opera’s sensual and saucy production of Mozart’s Abduction (The abduction from the Seraglio of 1782). 

Sliding the work into 2025 with an updated libretto complete with local puns and references, the Abduction was artfully directed by Constantine Cosi, who along with conductor Chad Kelly and Orchestra Victoria, kept the pace at maximum romp throughout. Keeping the original German language for the arias and choruses was brilliant, so that we lost none of that Mozart-y goodness, but were relieved of some of the outdated dialogue of the original. 

Our swashbuckling heroes, Belmonte and Pedrillo, played with comical genius by Kyle Stegall and Douglas Kelly – both fine singers – become bumbling mates, convinced of their heroic endeavours to rescue ‘their girls’, Blonde and Konstanze. 

Blonde and Konstanze, played less like damsels in distress and more appropriately as self-determining adventurers thanks to Constantine Cosi’s wonderfully adapted libretto. You can immediately see that this is a production you won’t want to miss, and one that marries the original intention of the work with modern day sensibilities. 

Katherine Allen as Blonde and Cleo-Lee-McGowan as Konstanze hit all the right notes as the heroines of their own adventures. Wonderful singing all round, with Luke Stoker playing Osmin as a trumped up bouncer wearing pink frilly chaps. The Pasha was played like a boss by Lyndon Watts who brought glamour and elegance to the role, sexy not sleazy. 

The seduction of the audience started well before the curtain rose, from the beautiful lush images of the marketing on billboards and on social media, and by the closing curtain had us totally enthralled and in love with the production. The heart themed set, and Bowery-esque costumes by Nathan Burmeister and Matilde Woodroofe, and the soft red infused lighting by Paul Jackson, everything worked together. 

Movement Director Shannon Burns coordinated the Chorus and action on stage in actions that ranged from the subtle to the sublime. Were we in a high class nightclub or in the queue of the Berghain? The night seemed just as fun as either of these options from the comfort of the seats at St Kilda’s Palais Theatre.

The game of love has never been much fun. In the words of the Countess DeLave (Mary Boland in the 1939 classic The Women): Oh l’amour, l’amour.

Photo Credit: Jeff Busby