Opera Australia's Oz Opera is proud to announce a new production of one of the world's favourite operas, Madame Butterfly, directed by one of Australia's most influential actors and directors, John Bell.

Puccini's moving tale is set in 1946 in the historic city of Nagasaki. Cio-Cio San, a fifteen year old Geisha girl, is married off to Pinkerton, a lieutenant in the victorious American navy. They fall in love, instantly, but when it is time for Pinkerton to go back home, he discards his fragile Butterfly. And so, caught between two worlds, the old and the new, Madame Butterfly waits. One fine day, she knows, he will return...

John Bell explores the work's finely drawn characters against the backdrop of post-war Japan - a visually spectacular clash of traditional geisha designs and modern Western dress - coloured further by Puccini's magnificent score, performed by the Oz Opera company and an 11-piece orchestra.

Sung in English
Performed with chamber orchestra

Director John Bell
Set & Costume Designer Jennie Tate
Lighting Designer Matt Scott
English Translation Peter Hutchinson
Conductor Simon Kenway & Christopher van Tuinen