Warwick Doddrell: Interview With OA La Traviata Revival Director

Warwick Doddrell is the revival director for Opera Australia’s new production of La Traviata, running from 22^nd October – 4^th November at Sydney Opera House. Warwick is an award-winning director from Western Australia, creating intimate, visceral and energetic productions. Based in Sydney, he has a degree in film production and studied for his Master’s degree (Directing) at NIDA. He trained in London with the New End Theatre and has staged works in Perth, Melbourne, London and Sydney, and continues to develop new work, including a new musical of Dot and the Kangaroo, workshopped with the Victorian College of the Arts in 2018. He has interned with Opera Australia, Michael Cassel Group, MonkeyBaa and the Ensemble Theatre, and has directed for Nate Butler Studio, Central Coast Opera, New Theatre, Old 505 Theatre and the Kings Cross Theatre, as well as assisting for Merrigong Theatre, MonkeyBaa, CDP and NIDA.

His productions have won Best Children’s Event, Members Choice, Best Marketing and Best Independent Production Awards. Recently he directed the acclaimed Australian premiere of John O’Donovan’s play If We Got Some More Cocaine I Could Show You How I Love You (KXT Kings Cross Theatre) and the Sydney Theatre Award-winning Stupid Fucking Bird (New Theatre).

Warwick is a Sandra Bates Award recipient in 2020/21, and will assist with the Ensemble Theatre productions of Kenny and Killing Katie. He is directing the Australian premiere of Zombie Thoughts for the National Theatre of Parramatta and is excited to be working with Opera Australia. We caught up with Warwick to talk about his fascinating career, and find out all the behind-the-scenes news ahead of the new production of La Traviata.

Hi Warwick, thanks for talking with us at TheatreArtLife! How are you doing, and how are the preparations going so far for the new revival of La Traviata?

Doing great! We’ve had a super productive start to rehearsals, and I’ve really enjoyed re-reading Dumas fils’ original novel La Dame aux Camélias, and discovering new details about these characters. I’m also preparing for our production of Carmen on Cockatoo Island, which is very exciting!

I understand that you’re well-versed in this opera with OA, having previously worked as assistant director in the recent Autumn and Winter productions with revival director Constantine Costi. Do you feel you’ve carried over many elements from the previous shows working with Mr Costi in your current interpretation, or is your vision a departure in any ways? What can we look forward to in this production?

I feel really lucky! I’ve had an incredible apprenticeship of sorts, not just working closely with Con on La Traviata but also on such beloved, classic productions in OA’s repertoire! I really love the way Con brings a contemporary storytelling sensibility to opera, so I have definitely brought elements from previous seasons. We want to honour the spirit and beauty of Moshinsky’s original production, with new, exciting performances that richly fill this sumptuously designed world.

It’s gonna be a little cheeky, a little sexy, and is the quintessential night at the opera, with spectacular music, and full-blooded storytelling.

And similarly, you worked assisting Mr Costi on the iconic 2021 Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour production of La Traviata – what was that experience like on a huge outdoor production compared to the current one you’re working on, and what do you enjoy about each?

They each offer such different challenges and creative problems! HOSH is a wonderful beast! How on earth do you tell a story to so many people, on such a monumental scale with that iconic backdrop? Really, it’s a world unto itself, and you just have to throw yourself into the madness of it!

I love the challenge of working to that scale, it really forces me to think differently about staging, how to focus the audience and how to keep it human, and emotionally accessible.

It was great fun working with Con and Shannon Burns, our choreographer, bringing this 1950’s Hollywood style and energy to the show. The chorus and dancers were always busy in that production, creating images en masse whereas working in the Opera House allows us to be more intimate, and to paint with a finer brush – especially for La Traviata. There’s nothing like the spectacle and scale of storytelling for Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, but there’s also nothing quite like the power and intimacy of hearing the Opera Australia Chorus and Orchestra in an acoustic performance.

As a Brit, and for the benefit our worldwide readers who also may not be aware, I’d love to find out more about your experiences living and working in Australia. You’re originally from Western Australia, and are now situated on the east coast, so I’m interested in what you’ve found to be the differences between the cities and regions in your beautiful country, as well as working internationally?

My first bit of advice is to make sure you visit Western Australia! Particularly the northwest, areas like the Burrup Peninsula or Karijini National Park. It’s magnificently beautiful and humbling, and a totally different experience of Australia. Australia is just so big, and the energy of the different cities is very different; Perth is more relaxed with beautiful dry heat, whereas Sydney is faster, a bit more manic and humid. I can handle Perth’s heat much better than Sydney’s!

I loved being in Melbourne with La Traviata earlier this year; it feels like such a lively city, seemingly celebrating art and culture and life at every turn and is just so incredibly walkable, in the city centre at least. I haven’t properly worked in Perth for years, but so much development has happened on the Swan River in the city which looks amazing – and by all accounts it’s an exciting time to be there.

I’ve recently been lucky to do some development work regionally, out in the Bathurst area and up in the Sunshine Coast – and one thing I loved was how these communities are more connected to nature. In Sydney it’s easy to forget how beautiful the city is, life is so fast, we’re so concerned about trains and traffic – but I have really found it quite magical to work regionally, to see the landscape around you all the time and to be able to connect with nature.

I think we forget how beautiful our country is on our doorstep, and all the different shades of colour, experience and opportunity that are out there. But no matter where you are, the industry feels like a small world. Theatre in Perth is a village, just as it is in Sydney and in London, and everyone seems to know everyone!

If it’s possible to choose, what have been your favourite moments or career highlights so far?

Every first is always a memorable occasion, but I guess a first-first was when I was interning for the revival of Carmen Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour in 2017, and it was such a spellbinding experience to peek behind the curtain at rehearsals and see, for the first time, the number of people all working together to bring opera to life. Those rehearsals out at Olympic Park were really special.

And following La Traviata, can you share anything with us about what you’ll be working on next?

I am so excited to start rehearsals with Carmen on Cockatoo Island, assisting the brilliant Liesel Badorek. It’s going to be such a thrilling show, and the first completely new production I’ve worked on with the company which will be exciting. I’m also reviving McVicar’s brilliant production of Don Giovanni next year, working with an incredible cast. I feel very lucky!

La Traviata at Sydney Opera House

Raise your glass, bat your lashes, it’s Paris in the salons and you’re the life of this party. He’s staring at you, he’s singing for you… Are you tempted?

Violetta wears velvet and lace and drinks only the finest champagne from crystal glasses. Her parties are legendary, her company desired. She’s free and freespirited, living outside society’s bounds, and for the courtesan, it seems like the party will never end. Could a little love really change everything?

La Traviata is so popular because it puts a life we can only dream of on stage, with its risqué glamour, joys and sorrows.

Verdi’s music sings of freedom with flying melodies, makes merry with rousing drinking songs and leaves us with passionate duets between breaking hearts.

This production by Elijah Moshinsky is one of our most successful, featuring lush party scenes in Paris and beautiful autumn afternoons in the countryside.

Lavish sets and exquisite costumes combined with Verdi’s famous score offer the perfect way to experience opera for the first time, or the chance to revisit a favourite with an exciting new cast.

La Traviata at Sydney Opera House

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