Victorian Opera is staging an uniquely Australian opera, The Cockatoos, based on a Patrick White short story.
Sung in English, the opera looks at a relationship in crisis as Olive and her husband Mick haven’t spoken for years communicating only by notes, until a stray cockatoo breaks their standoff. Librettist Sarah Carradine based her work on one of White’s best known short stories and the young cast (all under 25) hope to bring new life to this classic just as Opera Australia did earlier this year with Peter Carey’s Bliss.