Name: Bluebeard's Castle
Start: 2027-02-26
End: 2027-03-02
Location: Festival Theatre

When

26 Feb - 02 Mar

Where

Festival Theatre

Access

Venue & access info here

Tickets

Adult

Premium $289 | A Res $249 | B Res $209 | C Res $189

Festival Friends

Premium $249 | A Res $212 | B Res $178 | C Res $160

Concession*

A Res $199 | B Res $167 | C Res $152

Full-time student^

A Res $125 | B Res $105 | C Res $95

Under 40**

B Res $40 | C Res $40

Transaction fees apply
* Pensioner, Health Care Card holder, MEAA/Actors’ Equity member. NOTE: Commonwealth Senior Health and Seniors Cards are ineligible for concession
** Limited capacity, ID required. If price not visible, allocation is exhausted.
^ ID required

Times

Fri 26 Feb 8pm
Sat 27 Feb 7pm
Mon 1 Mar 6:30pm
Tue 2 Mar 6:30pm

Duration

1hr 10mins, no interval

Warnings

Contains adult themes and references to violence. Utilises strobe effect.
Latecomers will not be admitted.

Recommended for audiences 15+

Note

Performed in Hungarian with English surtitles.

Printed souvenir program available to purchase at checkout or at the venue counter.

Romeo Castellucci’s electrifying vision of Bartok’s operatic masterpiece.

By Béla Bartók / Libretto by Béla Balázs
Directed and designed by Romeo Castellucci
Conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya / Adelaide Symphony Orchestra

Bela Bartok’s monumental opera, Bluebeard’s Castle, arrives in Australia in a production by one of the world’s most visionary directors, Romeo Castellucci (Mozart’s Requiem, Go Down Moses).

This landmark 20th century opera follows Judith, newly married to Duke Bluebeard, as curiosity draws her deeper into his castle, where seven locked doors promise revelations both unsettling and wondrous. Performed on a water-filled stage illuminated by erupting fire, Castellucci reimagines this psychological thriller through Judith’s eyes, revealing a journey inward through chambers of memory and mystery.

Visually breathtaking and musically awe-inspiring, this unmissable production showcases a bold and daring operatic masterpiece.

“One of the most original living opera directors”

The Spectator

“A chilling psychological masterpiece”

Boston Globe

Bluebeard’s Castle
By Béla Bartók

Libretto by Béla Balázs

Directed by Romeo Castellucci
Conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Composer Béla Bartók
Libretto Béla Balázs

Director, Set, Costumes and Lighting Romeo Castellucci
Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya
Dramaturgy Piersandra Di Matteo

Set Design Collaborator Lisa Behensky
Artistic Collaborator Maxi Menja Lehmann
Movement & Choreography Collaborator Aurélien Dougé
Costume Design Collaborator Clara Rosina Straßer
Lighting Design Collaborator Marco Giusti

Cast
Bluebeard John Lundgren
Judith Christel Loetzsch
Prologue TBC

Image credits: Salzburg Festival, Monika Rittershaus

A production originally commissioned and produced by Salzburg Festival.

Generously supported by the Adelaide Festival Chairman's Circle and Opera Donor Circle.

Acknowledgements

Bluebeard's Castle