^{Cover Image: Charis Postmus as the effervescent Little Red and Sholto Foss as the talking dog, Wolfie. Image by Trik Photography.}

Adapted from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Freeze Frame Opera’s Little Red proves opera needn’t take itself too seriously, with a joyful production and talented young ensemble winning hearts throughout.

At first glance, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and a children’s audience seem like odd bedfellows. But parents and children need not worry if they know Little Red’s Mozartian parent opera about a serial womaniser. Freeze Frame Opera has recycled only the music, jettisoning the original storyline entirely and utilising approximately a third of the score to tell this original tale about a girl named Little Red (the daughter of the original Red Riding Hood) and her difficulty accepting her mum’s new ‘boyfriend’, Don Giovanni: a man who really is very nice and is simply trying to create the perfect blended family. 

Kudos to the dramaturgical prowess of Director and Writer Penny Shaw for pulling off this transformation. Shaw has created an entirely new libretto for the show that displays not only a knack for sharp, entertaining dialogue, but also a keen understanding of both the original musical structure and the technical demands of performance, along with how far they can be bent into new shapes without breaking. It is as satisfying to acknowledge this craftsmanship as it is to see Shaw spreading her wings into directorial territory; may it continue. 

^{Michelle Pryor as the warmly protective Mum and Sam Claxton as the nice-guy Don. Image by Trik Photography.}

Tommaso Pollio returns as Freeze Frame Opera’s regular music director and shines, as he always does, by making a tiny Yamaha keyboard sound almost like a full orchestra. Pollio’s intuitive support of his singers is a joy to behold, and his inclusion in the regular fourth-wall-breaking jokes is a great comic addition. By periodically utilising arias from different characters in the original opera—including Elvira, Donna Anna, Zerlina, Leporello, Il Commendatore and the Don—along with several ensembles, the action remains taut, with several little in-jokes for musically minded adults who know the score. Highlights included the famous La ci darem la mano, transformed into a playful duet about Little Red shirking a visit to Grandma so she can go to the beach with her new doggie best friend, and Zerlina’s Batti, batti becoming an over-the-top pre-teen’s plea to her mum to let her go. Overall, the show is vibrant, funny and never takes itself too seriously—a winning combination for what will most likely be many children’s first encounter with opera. 

Little Red goes on tour between 27th April to 5th June 2026, go to Freeze Frame Opera website for more details.