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The Perfumed Garden

  • Writer: Amanda Riddell
    Amanda Riddell
  • Dec 20, 2024
  • 1 min read

NZ Opera is going to do it my way, or they're not going to get to do it at all.


That's what I get to say as a public figure that they think is a draw.


I refuse to be Beder. I refuse to be on stage in any capacity because I'm a composer.


I want full nudity. It's not a negotiation. I want full nudity and I want the aria to be about the man's penis. If Dave's not willing to write that, then I will. - This is also me shaming them for the brownwashing of Voices of Aotearoa. I think Beder and most of the principal cast should be practicing Muslims. Maybe not the King, but the women. I don't want to do a codpiece Arabian Nights where white people laugh at the funny customs of another culture. - I want a giant dildo on the stage smacking people in the face! I want beheadings. I want it to be raw and real because the other reason I want to do this piece is to shame the rich Wellingtonians and their treatment of sex workers.

 
 
 

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2 Comments

Amanda Riddell
Amanda Riddell
Dec 20, 2024

Re: process. You did things your way and you split the company in half over a frivolous piece that you tried to make 'deep' with ham-fisted social commentary -- that's why you wanted to 'borrow' my songs, my body and voice. NZ Opera doesn't get to tell me how to write an opera, and neither does VUW.

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Amanda Riddell
Amanda Riddell
Dec 20, 2024
Replying to

Here's a quote from an Iranian film director that I admire: 'It was in the theater that I learned how it is that you can work with actors. To give an example, I have a character in the film [A Separation (2011)] who's supposed to be a religious woman. Once the script is finished, I didn't find her and say 'You're going to be a religious character. This is what you should do'. In the few months remaining before shooting she would actually turn into a religious person. I asked her to pray promptly every day, meaning five times. I asked her to wear a chador which is the traditional long veil. I asked her not to use her personal car...…

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