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2026

August

Fri
07 Aug 2026

Sun
09 Aug 2026

Tue
11 Aug 2026

Sat
15 Aug 2026
Venue

Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point, Sydney

Language

Performed in English.

Running time

Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one interval.

Please note

This production contains graphic depictions of violence including violence against women, themes of racism, replica firearms and gunshot effects.

They will say a story ended, those who cannot understand, no-one’s story ends forever, our Dreaming is forever.

Molly Johnson is a survivor. Heavily pregnant, she’s left alone to care for her children in a remote Snowy Mountains shanty.

Between the snakes, bullocks and hostile travellers on her doorstep, she faces no shortage of threats. With her husband away droving sheep, she faces them alone.

But when Yadaka, an Aboriginal man evading colonial authorities, disrupts Molly’s hard-won sanctuary, the pair’s shared history of brutal hardships can no longer be ignored.

The Drover’s Wife is a monumental new opera based on the play, novel and film by one of Australia’s leading artists, Leah Purcell. With a ravishing score by George Palmer, this new version reveals the symphonic soul of Purcell’s modern classic in its most expansive telling yet.

Melodies soar with raw emotion. Luscious orchestrations capture the beauty and violence of the Australian High Country. Grand opera traditions meet contemporary Aboriginal storytelling. Australia’s newest opera star Nina Korbe (West Side Story on Sydney Harbour) leads the cast as the titular drover’s wife in a role that will leave you breathless.


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Cast & Creative

Conductor
Composer
George Palmer
Libretto by
Leah Purcell with George Palmer
Director
Leah Purcell AM
Choreographer
Yolande Brown
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Karen Norris
Sound Designer
Associate Director
Producer
Bain Stewart for Oombarra Productions
Molly
Yadaka
Black Mary

Opera Australia Orchestra