We hear from Christchurch-born director Sara Brodie as she returns home for Don Giovanni, New Zealand Opera’s first main-stage production in Christchurch since Southern Opera joined the company last year.

We hear from Christchurch-born director Sara Brodie as she returns home for Don Giovanni, New Zealand Opera’s first main-stage production in Christchurch since Southern Opera joined the company last year.

"The transition seems to have been very easy to make and it is always good to meet new people in the field, especially those committed to bringing opera back to Christchurch after what the people of the city have been through."

During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?

The early morning, I am most definitely a lark.

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?
 
Emotionally authentic – so I’m told.

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill? 

Performers surprising me on the rehearsal room floor.

How does your environment affect your work?  

I get inspired by what’s around me, particularly the people and local art.  For example the topsy-turvy city that Christchurch has become informed the set design for Don Giovanni.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?

It is a case of balancing both.  The big picture is always there framing what you are making but working with individual performers you get stuck into the details.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?

Tenacity, the show will make it to the stage and it is my job to ensure every element is the best it can be.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?

The Kreutzer which combined Beethoven’s sonata, Janacek’s string quartet and Tolstoy’s novella.  The production as realized at the Christchurch Arts Festival was finally as I had envisaged it.

Who or what has inspired you recently?

The cast of Don Giovanni.  It’s rare to have such a capable cast of actor singers assembled together for an opera, so I am feeling blessed.

Tell us a bit about your background.

I grew up in Christchurch, studied dance and grew up participating in local musicals.  I travelled to London at eighteen where I worked as a dancer, actress and casting director for eight years before returning to New Zealand.  Teaching work lead to more and more directing, which funnily enough I had told myself when I was younger, was a job ‘men’ did.   Since focusing on directing I have been asked to do a range of very varied projects which keeps things challenging and means working with incredibly talented people across the arts from jazz musicians to fine artists.

Tell us about your connection with Christchurch.

Christchurch is where I was born and grew up.  My family and friends are here.  I come here regularly and particularly since the earthquakes.  A big part of me would like to knuckle down and participate in the rebuild.

Tell us about this production of Don Giovanni.

It is set in the Spanish present, currently an unstable world which suits the rather nightmare-like landscape of Don Giovanni.   The modern context changes how we realize things such as a speaking stone statue and Don Giovanni’s damnation.  By giving these scenes a credible reality my aim is to draw the audience in.  We are also doing this in terms of the characters, which we have fleshed out and detailed the shifting sands of their relationships rather than presenting for example Donna Anna as simply ‘heroic’ and wronged throughout. 

Don Giovanni is New Zealand Opera’s first main-stage production in Christchurch since Southern Opera joined the company last year. Tell us about the collaboration.

It has been wonderful to meet the incredibly skilled Sharolyn Kimmorley who has prepared the Christchurch chorus.  The chorus here are all stage animals so the rehearsal process has been very swift and easy.   The transition seems to have been very easy to make and it is always good to meet new people in the field, especially those committed to bringing opera back to Christchurch after what the people of the city have been through.

What are some of your other recent and upcoming projects.

Fault Lines, the dance-theatre show about the effects of earthquakes is first on the agenda.  Immediately after Don Giovanni I fly to China to refine it, working with the Leshan Song and Dance Company of Sichuan in preparation for it touring to Christchurch, Auckland and Nelson. 
I am also refining a new piece about dementia which my production company Stage Left are planning to premiere next year.   Also more opera, the first of which will be Mozart’s incomplete Il sposo deludo (The Deluded Bridegroom) as adapted by Michael Vinten for Opera Day’s Bay.

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?

I would say a dance movement therapist, but this is perhaps too close. Photo journalism has always appealed – in a war zone.

What place is always with you, wherever you go?

Primrose Hill, London.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?

Walking along the beach with my headphones on, I lose myself in it.  I also like being mobile, for me music is a physical act of expression not something I want to experience as a passive observer.

You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?

A parachute.

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?

Scarlett O’Hara, “I’ll think about that tomorrow”.

What’s great about today?

This morning it was meeting an interesting new person Guy Frederick, a photographer in Christchurch.  The spot he had picked for our shoot was inadvertently the site of my old flat in High Street.  It was bittersweet standing amid the rubble and chatting about our experiences.

What’s your big idea for 2014?

To commit more time to the real world and the people in it who are important to me – I have been lost in the land of theatrics at the expense of all else for too long.