Heather Fairbairn's Katya Kabanova. Live-cinema, cine-opera stage set with film crew and actors, large black-and-white projection of man's face in background, decorated with fabric and plants.

KATYA KABANOVA

by Leoš Janáček

Victorian Opera, Palais Theatre, Melbourne, 2025

Director Heather Fairbairn
Conductor Alexander Briger
Set and Costume Designer Savanna Wegman
Lighting Designer Niklas Pajanti
Video Designer Robert Brown
Assistant Director & Camera Operator Benjamin Sheen

with Desiree Frahn, Andrew Goodwin, Antoinette Halloran, Michael Petruccelli, Douglas Kelly, Emily Edmonds, Adrian Tamburini, Michaela Cadwgan

Winner of the overall Outstanding Production Award in the 2025 OperaChaser Critics Awards.

Heather Fairbairn's Katya Kabanova. A group of people and camera crew on a stage with large black and white portrait backdrop of a woman's face, surrounded by makeshift scaffolding and plastic sheeting.
Heather Fairbairn's Katya Kabanova. A woman standing outdoors in front of a chain-link fence with plants, wearing a cream sweater and a red pleated skirt, smiling with arms outstretched.
Heather Fairbairn's Katya Kabanova. Three women standing outdoors at night near a chain-link fence with plastic sheeting. They look thoughtful or concerned, with one holding a large duffle bag.
Heather Fairbairn's Katya Kabanova. Live-cinema, cine-opera scene, with a woman kneeling on the floor, another woman sitting on the ground with a concerned expression, and a man operating a camera, set against a dark, textured background.
VICTORIAN-OPERA_KATYA-KABANOVA_photo-Jeff-Busby_1486.jpg
Heather Fairbairn's Katya Kabanova. Two young people are standing near a chain-link fence covered with vine plants, at night. The woman is smiling and wearing a denim jacket. The man is wearing glasses, a blue shirt, and jeans.
VO2025 - Katya Kabanova © Jeff Busby (1).jpg
Heather Fairbairn's Katya Kabanova. A woman in a shiny dress and patterned shawl is gesturing emotionally, while a man in a beige coat and glasses stands behind a chain-link fence, touching it with one hand and looking down, in a theatrical scene.
VICTORIAN-OPERA_KATYA-KABANOVA_photo-Jeff-Busby_1895.jpg
Heather Fairbairn's Katya Kabanova. Man and woman on stage with a cinematic background, scene from a live-cinema, cine-opera stage production.
Heather Fairbairn's Katya Kabanova. Film set with a woman sitting on a platform, a man standing beside her, another person operating a camera, and a large black-and-white screen showing a close-up of a woman's face in the background.
Heather Fairbairn's Katya Kabanova. A woman in a light-colored dress standing on a platform in front of a large screen displaying a close-up image of a woman's face in profile.

Reviews

★★★★★ "ingenious and daring", "Director Heather Fairbairn was adventurous, courageous and persuasive.", "This Katya deserves five stars for its energy, originality and general excellence" - The Age

★★★★✰ (4.5) "A coup for Victorian Opera, which has struck gold with the powerful and refreshingly new cinematic approach of this production directed by Heather Fairbairn."; "Anyone with even a passing interest in opera should get along to revel in this composer’s unlikely, electric charms, and experience Victorian Opera’s visually compelling, psychologically revealing cine-opera staging" - Limelight

"A live, cinematic masterpiece", "Janáček may have rejected the grand opera style, but Opera Victoria has proved yet again that with the best singers, smartest designers, directors, musicians and technologists, you can create opera on a grand scale." - ClassikON

"All you need are singers with exceptional voices capable of singing in the Czech language, and a production team with the vision and technical skills to recreate Janáček’s world. On both counts Victorian Opera has been astonishingly successful. Much of the success stems from Heather Fairbairn’s directorial choices." - Classic Melbourne

"Painstakingly considered approach in combining stage and cinema with profoundly stirring results.", "Rather than competing with each other, the duality of stage action and screen compliments Janáček’s work and Ostrovsky’s narrative with a magnified, inescapably absorbing, total composition." - Australian Arts Review

Awards

2026 Green Room Awards:

Outstanding Direction - Heather Fairbairn, Katya Kabanova, nominee
Outstanding Production - Katya Kabanova, nominee
Outstanding Performer in a Leading Role - Desiree Frahn, Katya Kabanova, winner
Outstanding Performer in a Supporting Role - Emily Edmonds, Katya Kabanova, winner
Outstanding Performer in a Supporting Role - Antoinette Halloran, Katya Kabanova, nominee
Outstanding Performer in a Supporting Role - Doug Kelly, Katya Kabanova, nominee
Outstanding Performer in a Supporting Role - Michael Petrucelli, Katya Kabanova, winner
Outstanding Design - Robert Brown (Video Design) Niklas Pajanti (lighting), Katya Kabanova, winner
Outstanding Creative Contribution - Ben Sheen (assistant director), Katya Kabanova, winner
Outstanding Musical Achievement - Alexander Briger (Conductor), ANAM Orchestra, Katya Kabanova, winner

2025 OperaChaser Critics Awards:

Outstanding Production - Katya Kabanova, winner
Outstanding Female in a Leading Role - Desiree Frahn, Katya Kabanova, winner
Outstanding Male in a Supporting Role - Adrian Tamburini, Katya Kabanova, nominee
Outstanding Female in a Supporting Role - Antoinette Halloran, Katya Kabanova, nominee
Outstanding Set Designer - Savanna Wegman, Katya Kabanova, nominee
Outstanding Lighting Designer - Niklas Pajanti, Katya Kabanova, winner

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