Only a week had gone by and I had to get out of Newcastle and see
something. I was in a different country, but it didn’t really feel like it. I
needed to go somewhere that would let me know that I was no longer in the
United States. So, my 2nd weekend in Australia, I jumped on a train
and three hours later I was in Sydney.
My trip to Sydney was awhile back, so I’m going to have to let the
pictures do most of the talking. There are a few things that I distinctly
remember though. The first thing that stuck out to me was the opera house. I
fell in love the moment I saw it. I think I probably took 20 pictures of it
(although I will spare you by only posting a few). I ended up going inside to
see if there were any shows going on.
While I was waiting in the ticket line, a woman came up to me and
asked if I was interested in buying an opera ticket. She told me that her
friend had canceled last minute on her and that she wanted to get rid of the
extra ticket so she would give me a good price. The ticket was to Othello, a
Shakespearean play that had been adapted into an opera. After checking to make
sure the ticket was legit, I paid for it and followed her into the theatre.
I’ve never seen an opera before…but I knew that what I watching was
good…no, it was beautiful. This was a full scale production. There was a huge
orchestra, 40-50 people on stage, and everything was sung in Latin (fortunately
there was English subtitles for those of us who were not sophisticated enough
to understand Latin). The music…oh man…it gave me goosebumps. The songs were
penetrating and deep. They took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride.
Although the music was emotionally stimulating, I took the most out
of the storyline. In the story, Othello is a General of the Venetian army and
is betrayed out of anger by his closest adviser, Lago. Lago orchestrates
Othello’s downfall by slowly turning him against those who are closest to him,
including his wife Desdemona. Lago is able to convince Othello that Desdemona
has been unfaithful, causing Othello to accuse Desdemona again and again. With
each accusation, Desdemona fervently maintains both her innocence and her love
for Othello. Despite this, Othello is relentless in his accusations of his
wife. It got to the point where I just wanted to slap Othello in the face and
yell “Good God man, can’t you see that she’s telling the truth!?!” The play
ended with Othello killing his wife out of rage and jealously, and then taking
his own life once he realized her innocence.
I left the theatre depressed for two reasons. (1) Because the
ending of the opera was depressing and (2) because I paid a lot of money to see
an opera in the opera house, only to leave the opera house feeling depressed.
Essentially, I was depressed because I was depressed…If that makes since? It
wasn’t until after realizing what I had learned that I began to appreciate the
opera.
The tragedy of Othello is
that no one had to die. Othello should never have believed Lago in the first
place. Someone once told me that you trust the person that you love no matter
what, even if the whole world suggests otherwise. The opera reinforced this
message. It showed how ugly jealously and distrust can be, how it can rip apart
friendships and relationships. Hopefully the message will stick…
I spent the rest of my time in Sydney walking through all of the “touristy”
areas. I walked through the botanical gardens, I walked across the harbor bridge,
I went to Darling Harbor, and I went to star city and almost saw Phantom of the
Opera. It was fun…Traveling by myself. I realized something though. I think
that I’d much rather have someone to share it with
