The Rabbits, composed by Kate Miller-Heidke, Lally Katz as librettist, is an uncomfortable piece of art, though unfortunately not in the way the creators probably intended. The opera is an adaptation of the John Marsden authored, Shaun Tan illustrated book of the same name. The book is a nuanced, thoughtful examination of contact between two cultures that did not understand one another with tragic results. There is almost no need to point out that it is an allegory for Aboriginal-European contact in Australia, although some international readers might not be aware of this, so perhaps it still bears saying.
The 2015 Melbourne Writers Festival is underway and apart from my Veronica Mars squeeing sessions a few other sessions have been of some comparatively mild interest. Apologies to the rest of the festival—but hey, you’re the ones who brought Rob Thomas in.*
