A musical tribute to Stella Bowen Presented by Co-Opera Four great artists…one great love affair

The Portrait is the musical story of expatriate Adelaide-born WWII artist, Stella Bowen. Best known as an official war artist during World War 11, Stella captured the imagination and hearts of Australians by giving us insights into the distant conflict.

The story of Stella's early life, along with the power and beauty of her paintings, inspired Co-Opera to commission a great new work for music theatre by Adelaide composer Becky Llewellyn. The Portrait tells the story of Stella in the Bohemian world of Paris and London during the 1920s. Young and gullible, Stella is introduced to the English author Ford Madox Ford by writer Violet Hunt, and falls deeply in love. The couple become leading lights amongst Europe's artistic glitterati. Their life together unravels as Ford becomes entangled with writer, Jean Rhys and a dangerous love triangle develops.

Humour and wit infuse Llewellyn's sensuous sounds and, combined with Bowen's powerful images, add up to an intense and glorious musical experience.