A poignant and imaginative reflection on events during Janet Frame’s time at Seacliff Mental Hospital, The Strangest of Angels is a harrowing and hopeful experience that throws light on mental health then and now.

Born of an exciting and conscious collaboration between composer and performers that explores the contrast between a calm, rational person contained at Seacliff Asylum and a traumatised nurse torn between empathy and the relative power of institutional duty.

“Eleanor Bishop’s sure direction and the simple, eloquent design and lighting by Rachel Marlow and Bradley Gledhill brought the audience a profoundly thought-provoking operatic statement.”
— Five Lines

CREATIVE TEAM

  • Composer: Kenneth Young (with Anna Leese)

  • Libretto: Georgia Jamieson Emms

  • Commissioned by: Anna Leese

  • Conductor: Kenneth Young

  • Director: Eleanor Bishop

  • Performers: Anna Leese & Jayne Tankersley

  • With the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra

  • Production Design: Rachel Marlow & Bradley Gledhill for Filament Eleven 11

  • Costume Design: Nic Smillie 

  • Presented by NZ Opera

“As I leave the theatre, I feel privileged to have witnessed the birth of this newest New Zealand opera, which features many moments to savour and even more for us to think about.”
— Stuff

PRESENTATIONS

  • 27 - 28 May 2022, The Piano, Christchurch with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra

  • 12 - 13 October 2022, Mayfair Theatre, Dunedin with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra & Dunedin Arts Festival