There are productions that entertain, and there are productions that stay with you long after the curtain falls. Opera Australia’s ‘The Drover’s Wife’ belongs firmly in the latter camp.
Now playing at the Sydney Opera House, the new Australian opera brings together Leah Purcell’s storytelling and George Palmer AM’s sweeping score in a work that feels both deeply intimate and genuinely epic. Adapted from Purcell’s play, novel, and film, itself inspired by Henry Lawson’s 1892 short story, the opera blends contemporary First Nations storytelling with the scale and emotional force of grand opera.
At its centre is Molly Johnson, heavily pregnant and raising her children alone in the Snowy Mountains while her husband is away droving. The arrival of Yadaka, an Aboriginal man fleeing colonial authorities, unsettles the fragile world she has fought to hold together and gradually reveals the brutality buried beneath it.
Nina Korbe was extraordinary as Molly. Her performance carried both fierce physical strength and profound vulnerability, and her voice seemed to expand to meet the scale of Palmer’s orchestration. Opposite her, Marcus Corowa brought warmth, dignity, and emotional depth to Yadaka. Together, they gave the production its beating heart.
The Opera Australia Orchestra, conducted by Tahu Matheson, filled the Joan Sutherland Theatre with music that could be lush and expansive one moment, then tense and unsettling the next. Palmer’s score captures both the beauty and violence of the Australian High Country, while Isabel Hudson’s set, Tess Schofield’s costumes, and Yolande Brown’s choreography created a world that felt simultaneously stark, cinematic, and alive.
This is not comfortable storytelling, nor is it intended to be. The work confronts colonial violence, racism, violence against women, and the enduring consequences of Australia’s history. Yet it also speaks powerfully about survival, identity, resilience, and connection.
Most importantly, ‘The Drover’s Wife’ feels unmistakably Australian without trying to imitate anything that has come before it. It is ambitious, confronting, beautiful, and emotionally immense.
A major new Australian opera has arrived.
About the author:
Yara Vasina is a Sydney-based writer for The Plus Ones, covering arts, culture, food, and experiences worth leaving the house for.
‘The Drover’s Wife’ plays at the Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House until 15 August 2026. Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including interval.
Disclosure: The Plus Ones were invited guests of Opera Australia.
Image credit: Carlita Sari / Opera Australia.
