For any director, bringing a fresh, new perspective to a standing work is a dream. For Constantine Costi this dream has been delivered twofold as director for State Opera South Australia’s double bill this August.
Audiences will be swept away to a magical forest world as State Opera South Australia brings both Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel and Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods for a limited two week season.
Constantine has directed across opera, film and theatre. Over the years he has worked for a number of Australia’s top opera companies, including Opera Australia.
Constantine spoke to Glam Adelaide about Hansel & Gretel and Into The Woods, his vision and what drew him to pursue a career in the art form of opera.
“I didn’t come from an opera background or an opera family. I came to opera quite late during my training at theatre school as a director. What I discovered was a medium that combines not just singing but theatre, acting, visual arts and choreography – it’s like the ultimate amalgamation of all these art forms. I’ve really become more and more passionate about opera over time because it is such an incredible sensory experience that can emotionally grab you by the lapels and not let you go. You can swing from comedy to fantasy to drama all in the space of one night. I feel like it’s actually one of the greatest experiences an audience can have.”
In a South Australian exclusive season spanning four performances from Friday 21st August to Saturday 29th August 2026 at Her Majesty’s Theatre Adelaide, audiences will experience a colourful, state-of-the-art operatic production inspired by the haunting fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. Combining cinematic storytelling, striking visual design and lighting, Hansel & Gretel promises a contemporary operatic experience.
Hansel & Gretel was composed by nineteenth-century composer Engelbert Humperdinck and was first performed in 1893.
Constantine shared with Glam Adelaide what drew him to Humperdinck’s incredible score.
“It is it is one of the great opera scores; it’s very lush and it takes you along on the most amazing journey. What’s so fun about it is that everyone knows the Hansel & Gretel story so you get all the charm and the wit of these two loveable little kids who are out on a great adventure. I think there is something in Humperdinck’s score that can really get your heart racing. The music is very much intended for families as well – it’s a very accessible, engaging and exciting musical experience. You don’t feel like you’re sitting there twiddling your thumbs, but waiting to hear and see what’s going to happen next. Humperdinck’s own sister, who had kids, wrote the libretto so there’s a mother’s perspective in the work too.”
For most operas, as a director there is a little more freedom to explore and re-imagine the production than you have with a modern-day musical.
“I’m working alongside Jonathon Oxlade, who’s an Adelaide-based designer who is famous for his very, very beautiful, heightened, illustrative set and costume designs. Also part of the team as associate director is Shannon Burns, who has a movement background. This combination means that we can really dive into the whole production being from the perspective of little kids where the world can be big, or it can be small. There’s also at times a real kind of playfulness, but then also looks at how a child can also experience things that are scary. We’re really going for a dream-like, larger than life take on the world around Hansel & Gretel. It’s very much like seeing through their imaginative and exaggerated eyes.
“Both Hansel & Gretel and Into The Woods have the most incredible, sumptuous scores. You know the music works and functions so well, and it has been captivating audiences since both were first composed. There is a great foundation which then allows me to come in as a director to play and put my own twist on it “
Hansel & Gretel features an exceptional cast led by internationally acclaimed Korean American countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim in his Australian debut as Hansel, American soprano Sofia Troncoso as Gretel, Australian mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby in the dual roles of the Witch and Mother, Adelaide favourite baritone Morgan Pearse as Peter, and emerging South Australian soprano Lucy Stoddart in the dual roles of Dew Fairy and the Sandman.
“It has honestly been the best. When you’re working with singers as good as Justin Kim, Sofia Troncoso, Morgan Pearse, Lucy Stoddart, and Catherine Carby, you know that you’re with some of the best singers in the world who have sung a lot of this repertoire many times before. They come in with that knowledge. So what you get is a musical confidence, which means they can play with your ideas. An opera like Hansel & Gretel needs that element of playfulness. It helps create that magical night at the opera.”
On alternate nights to Hansel & Gretel, audiences are invited to step into the spellbinding world of Into the Woods, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical by legendary composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim and acclaimed writer-director James Lapine.
The production intertwines beloved Brothers Grimm fairytale characters including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and others. Audiences will also experience an original story of a Baker and his wife as they attempt to break a witch’s curse and start a family.
“Into The Woods is one of those brilliant pieces of theatre that will go from a farce and pantomime to deep psychological insight that kind of rips your heart out. Stephen Sondheim is known for going into darker corners of the human psyche, and I think he does that so well in this show, particularly with the twists and turns that happen in the second half. We’re leaning into giving these characters as much depth and darkness and also as much light and redemption as possible. It’s the full gamut of the human experience and an ensemble of a size to match.”
Into the Woods is one of the most celebrated musicals of all time, promising a magical live theatrical experience that explores love, loss, family and the consequences of the choices we make. Since its debut in 1987, Sondheim’s unforgettable score and James Lapine’s story have continued to captivate and move audiences of all ages.
It feature Hugh Sheridan as The Baker, Johanna Allen as The Bakers Wife, Jessica Dean as Cinderella, Eliza Brill Reed as Little Red, Rosie Hosking as The Witch, Nicholas Lester as Mysterious Man, Joey Haenen as Jack, Catherine Campbell as Jack’s Mother, Jessica Mills as Rapunzel/Cinderella’s Mother, Cherie Boogaart as Stepmother/Granny/Giant, Eleanor Brasted as Lucinda, Michaela Burger as Florinda, Nicholas Cannon as Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf, Andrew Crispe as Rapunzel’s Prince, Mark Oates as Cinderella’s Father, Millicent Brake as Snow White, Gianna Guttilla as Sleeping Beauty, Rod Schultz as the Steward and Savannah Gunn as the Narrator.
Hansel & Gretel will be performed on Friday 21st August, Tuesday 25th August, Thursday 27th August and Saturday 29th August at 7.30pm
Into The Woods will be performed on Saturday 22nd August, Wednesday 26th August and Friday 28th August at 7.30pm as well as 1pm on Saturday 29th August.
“There’s really an undercurrent of profound joy in both of these pieces. Both shows have journeys into the forest and into the unknown, and ultimately the characters leave – and I hope the audience will too – with a sense of optimism and wonder about the beautiful mess of what it is to be a human being. That’s what both of these pieces do just so well. They are both just joyous nights at the theatre with a lot of fun laced into them.”
For more information on Hansel & Gretel and Into the Woods and ticket bookings please visit stateopera.com.au
Photo credit: Kyahm Ross
