Freeze Frame Opera’s Don Giovanni at Fremantle Prison reinvents Mozart’s loathed lothario for #MeToo era

Freeze Frame Opera’s Don Giovanni lurches on stage at Fremantle Prison this week with lavish talents and lascivious intent, reinventing Mozart’s loathed lothario as a #MeToo movie impresario for the Trump 2.0 era. Baritone Brett Peart cuts a swaggering figure as the titular anti-hero, full of braggadocio but also beguiling charm; his seductive duet “La ci darem” with wannabe starlet Zerlina (sparkling soprano Emma Pettemerides) sinister yet stately in its timeless appeal. Was this how Harvey Weinstein lasted so long? There’s comedy aplenty in Giovanni’s repartee with the hapless servant Leporello, a frustrated factotum played with pinpoint timing by baritone James Pinneri, capturing the inept machinations that drive the plot. Leporello’s interaction with the scorned actress Elvira — colourful soprano Hattie Marshall in fearsome form — repeatedly spice the mix, both as unlikely conspirators and reluctant paramours. Underpinning the action is the unresolved pathos of the abused Anna (stellar soprano Rachelle Durkin) and her murdered father, Judge Commendatore (theatrical baritone Robert Hofmann). The Judge bookends the story as victim and avenger while Anna’s deeply conflicted attempts to rebuild trust with fiance Ottavio (lyric tenor Kohsei Gilkes) bring home the brutal cost of abuse. Durkin’s spell-binding rendition of the despairing aria “Non mi dir”, sung with delicacy and tear-stained grief for the loss of love and innocence, is the perfect foil to a burlesque finale of revelation and revenge. One of Freeze Frame’s gifts is to serve centre-stage the raw humanity behind the compelling music of the classics, here achieved in heart-rending measure. Another Freeze Frame delight is the constant kaleidoscope of new discoveries, with baritone Samuel Claxton a late addition as Masetto, Zerlina’s matinee idol fiancé, clear in character and crisp in diction, completing the lineup of principal players. Aside from the formidable Peart as Giovanni, the three male co-stars are paired with outstanding accomplished female artists, aptly illuminating the unnatural imbalance of Mozart’s imaginary, dysfunctional “Seville” and the horrors of modern Hollywood. Director Penny Shaw’s wit and wisdom are everywhere in this quicksilver production, from deft lyrics and staging — with design by Rhiannon Walker and lighting by Jerry Reinhardt — to the constant ministrations of musical maestro Tommaso Pollio on piano with his cohort of Cathie Travers (accordion) and Sophie Curtis (cello). Deft tonal variation and rhythmic drive from the ensemble buoy the gems of Mozart’s oeuvre with atmospheric, narrative, and sometimes cinematic effect. Corrupt officers, part of the mythical Seville, become Keystone Cops in their bumbling incompetence, while “paparazzi” wielding mobile phones add a dimension Mozart could barely have foreseen, yet fitting in context. All are played by a young chorus of Noah Humich, Sophie Hamer, Emily Davis, Laurence Westrip and Euan MacMillan, who also facilitate slick scene changes around a towering yet compact set repurposed from past productions. Human failing finally turns to divine intervention, with Faustian overtones in Giovanni’s judicial condemnation, but the traditional “lieto fine” (happy ending) of Mozart’s day kicks in to leave a smile on (almost) everyone’s dial. Don Giovanni is at Fremantle Prison until Saturday, freezeframeopera.com.