Hussein inspires opera

The silhouette is unmistakable. A rifle pointing upward from his hip, the man in the fedora swaggers through the smoldering ruins of a Jewish temple.

Saddam Hussein is taking center stage in an Australian production of Verdi’s classic opera “Nabucco.”

The opera, which opened at Sydney Opera House this week, tells the biblical story of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar driving the people of Jerusalem out of the Holy Temple and his subsequent battle for power with his daughter Abigaille, whom he adopted from a slave.

Alluding to the 19th century nationalist struggle in Italy, Verdi intended for the oppressed Jews to represent Italians fighting to unify their homeland.

Making his Opera Australia debut, director David Freeman said he wanted to update the production for an audience that likely knows little of Italian history.

“It’s trying to give edge to a work which once had an edge, but that edge was Italian politics,” he said in an interview. “It’s making it about the politics of today.”

Freeman has cast Nebuchadnezzar, whom Verdi called Nabucco, as a Saddam-like figure in his initial appearance on stage, complete with gun, hat, gangster-like suit and the trademark bristling mustache. Later, his grip on power loosening, he is a crazed figure with shaggy hair and beard, bringing to mind pictures of Saddam after his December 2003 capture by coalition forces in Iraq.

For Freeman, Saddam fits the mold of a stage antihero. “I think he’s a rather operatic figure actually, or Shakespearean figure,” he said.

The opera continues through Aug. 12.