IRIS DREAMING

World premiere at the 2016 Grimeborn Festival

A powerful new one-woman chamber opera by Gillian Whitehead and Fleur Adcock,  based on the life of celebrated New Zealand writer and feminist, Robin Hyde.

Commissioned and produced by Joanne Roughton-Arnold, she was joined by a stellar line-up of NZ and British talent to bring the world premiere of this extraordinary new work to the 2016 Grimeborn Festival at London's Arcola Theatre.

View Ensemble Version

New Zealand premiere at the 2017 Adam Chamber Music Festival

Joanne Roughton-Arnold collaborated with NZTrio in a special adaptation of the work for the  Adam Chamber Music Festival. The fully staged production at Nelson's Theatre Royal was again directed by Sara Brodie, and was singled out as a festival highlight by the Nelson Mail.

 

'An unforgettable premiere... A superb operatic performance that deserves to be repeated throughout New Zealand.'

Margot Hannigan, Nelson Mail

View Trio Version

Iris Dreaming: from Page to Stage

Against a backdrop of budget deficits and unrelenting austerity, what does it take to nurture an idea for a new opera and bring it to life on stage?

Joanne Roughton-Arnold describes her extraordinary creative journey in bringing Iris Dreaming to audiences on two continents in opposite hemispheres.

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