
Heavy and emotional or not, there is only so long an audience can wait between lines – and the more moments of silence there were, the less meaning was loaded in them.

The concept of a man so consumed by a thirst for knowledge as to barter his own soul for the wisdom and services of Lucifer’s leading general Mephistopheles is so innately compelling it’s been tackled by everyone from Marlowe to The Simpsons.


It inhabits a kinky and corrupt dreamscape where all is slightly confusing yet leaves you titillated to know what’ll happen next.

What I wasn’t prepared for was just how much pleasure, as an adult, I got from this skilful and energetic adaptation.

While it indeed delivered the spectacle Aida is known to be, this production of Opera Queensland was not the years’ stand out.