Snow White
World Premiere
2015

"Snow White, a reimagining of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale by director Lindy Hume, composer Zulya Kamalova and librettist Suzie Miller, is a dark, edgy piece of musical theatre that focuses on the relationship between the Queen and her daughter Snow White. Dripping with sex and blood, the drama centres around the Queen’s realisation, first horrified then despairing, that her 15-year-old daughter has become exactly the person she was at the same age."

Limelight

"All good fairytales expose societal anxieties. Remove the attempted filicide and La Boite’s Snow White could be a more familiar story: one of a precocious teenager who rebels against her mother’s hold to test the limits of her own sexuality; and of a mother who, watching her daughter grow up, suddenly feels the loss of her own allure."

Guardian

"This well-polished and aesthetically stunning opera-slash-theatre piece is gripping from beginning to end, being carried through by a powerful cast. The Mirror serves as a stellar departure from the darkness, creating a window between the performance and the audience..."

SceneStr

"In the end, and for all the right reasons, this performance was overwhelming. Not just for its bold direction, which presents a masterpiece in a new and justifiable light, but for Clayton’s illustrious and incomparable contribution."

Australian Book Review

"That one finds more commonality that contrast between Williams’ often sparse, bleak landscapes and Winterreise’s “portrait in landscape” (Hume’s characterisation) is just one surprising effect of this wholly successful venture, which showcases the fine work of video designer David Bergman and lighting designer Matt Marshall….Less existential torture, more universalising, and hence communal, grief. Just perfect for our own troubled times."

Limelight

"By putting this classic work in conversation with the quintessentially Australian panoramas of Fred Williams, Musica Viva has imaginatively looked beyond a stand-and-deliver presentation and opened up a fascinating vista of artistic and emotional discovery. In this polished, probing production, directed by Lindy Hume and effectively lit by Matthew Marshall, English tenor Allan Clayton and Australian-born pianist Kate Golla perform Schubert’s songs against a backdrop of images by Williams deftly manipulated by video designer David Bergman."

The Age, Melbourne

"In the end, and for all the right reasons, this performance was overwhelming. Not just for its bold direction, which presents a masterpiece in a new and justifiable light, but for Clayton’s illustrious and incomparable contribution."

Australian Book Review

"That one finds more commonality that contrast between Williams’ often sparse, bleak landscapes and Winterreise’s “portrait in landscape” (Hume’s characterisation) is just one surprising effect of this wholly successful venture, which showcases the fine work of video designer David Bergman and lighting designer Matt Marshall….Less existential torture, more universalising, and hence communal, grief. Just perfect for our own troubled times."

Limelight

"By putting this classic work in conversation with the quintessentially Australian panoramas of Fred Williams, Musica Viva has imaginatively looked beyond a stand-and-deliver presentation and opened up a fascinating vista of artistic and emotional discovery. In this polished, probing production, directed by Lindy Hume and effectively lit by Matthew Marshall, English tenor Allan Clayton and Australian-born pianist Kate Golla perform Schubert’s songs against a backdrop of images by Williams deftly manipulated by video designer David Bergman."

The Age, Melbourne

"In the end, and for all the right reasons, this performance was overwhelming. Not just for its bold direction, which presents a masterpiece in a new and justifiable light, but for Clayton’s illustrious and incomparable contribution."

Australian Book Review

"That one finds more commonality that contrast between Williams’ often sparse, bleak landscapes and Winterreise’s “portrait in landscape” (Hume’s characterisation) is just one surprising effect of this wholly successful venture, which showcases the fine work of video designer David Bergman and lighting designer Matt Marshall….Less existential torture, more universalising, and hence communal, grief. Just perfect for our own troubled times."

Limelight

"By putting this classic work in conversation with the quintessentially Australian panoramas of Fred Williams, Musica Viva has imaginatively looked beyond a stand-and-deliver presentation and opened up a fascinating vista of artistic and emotional discovery. In this polished, probing production, directed by Lindy Hume and effectively lit by Matthew Marshall, English tenor Allan Clayton and Australian-born pianist Kate Golla perform Schubert’s songs against a backdrop of images by Williams deftly manipulated by video designer David Bergman."

The Age, Melbourne