The West Australian Opera Company has dumped a planned production of the opera Carmen for the 2015 and 2016 seasons because some of its scenes feature smoking, newspaper The West Australian reported.

The 140-year-old opera by French composer Georges Bizet will be banned from the company's programme as part of a two-year AUD 400,000 (EUR 277,000) partnership with state government health agency Healthway.
The opera features scenes taking place in and around a cigar factory and also features smoking by the characters and within the text. General manager of the opera company, Carolyn Chard, told The West Australian that the decision to make the change to the programme in order to accommodate Healthway's policies was "not difficult".
"We care about the health and wellbeing of our staff, stage performers and all the opera lovers throughout WA, which means promoting health messages and not portraying any activities that could be seen to promote unhealthy behaviour," Chard told the newspaper.