Welcome to the documentary in the studio from the BBC World Service, the program that investigates the creative process.

I'm C. Benedict.

Sydney Harbour is home to the most iconic Opera House on Earth, and the National Company, Opera Australia, is resident there.

When it opened in 1973, you could go and see operas like Puccini's Laboam, Rossini's the

Barber of Seville, and Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

Now, over 50 years later, you can go and see operas like Puccini's La Boem, Rossini's, the Barber of

Seville, and Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

But a handful of stops down the train line is a refurbished railway works.

It's metal and concrete and almost completely inappropriate for an opera company.

That's where Sydney Chamber Opera has been based since 2011. And in partnership

with Opera Australia, they're about to stage a new Australian opera called Gilgamesh. One thing that you've

been perfecting over, I guess probably the last few months is describing the plot of Gilgamesh in fewer and fewer words.

How many words do you think you can do it in today?

Let's give it a try.

God's try and control a king who falls in love and realizes what life and death are.

That's so few words.

That's so few words.

That's so few words.

That's Sydney Chamber Opera's artistic director and Gilgamesh's composer, Jack Simons.

And let's add a few more words to that.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the world's oldest written down stories.

This version, with a libretto by Sydney Chamber Opera co-founder, Lewis Garrick, begins with a despotic king.

...