Opera in the Open 2026

Cast:

• Cio-Cio-San: Deirdre Higgins
• B. F. Pinkerton: Jose Pazos
• Suzuki: Sarah Richmond
• Sharpless: Simon Morgan
• The Bonze: John Molloy
• Goro: Oisin O’Dalaigh
• Kate Pinkerton: Diana Salop
• The Imperial Commissioner: David O’Carroll
• Chorus:
  • Ciara Smith, Roisin O’Neill, Cliodhna Regan
  • Yasmin O’Reilly, Maedhbh Hannafin, Leah Walsh
  • Edward Finnegan, Aodhán Gavigan, Ryan O’Donnell
  • James Connolly, Gregory Hayes, William Donovan

Director: Sandra Oman

Musical Director: David Wray

Madama Butterfly is an opera composed by Giacomo Puccini. Set in Nagasaki, Japan at the beginning of the 20th century, it tells the tragic story of Cio-Cio-San, known as Butterfly, a young Japanese girl who marries an American naval officer B. F. Pinkerton. Shortly after the marriage, Pinkerton returns to America, leaving Butterfly behind. For three years, she waits faithfully for his return, raising their son whose existence is unknown to Pinkerton. When Pinkerton eventually returns to Japan with his new American wife, Kate, they seek to adopt the child. Realising that her dreams are shattered and there is no future between herself and Pinkerton, Butterfly agrees to give up her son and then takes her own life in a shocking and tragic ending.

Cast:

• Dido: Diana Salop
• Aeneas: James Connolly
• Belinda: Ciara Smith
• Sorceress: Yasmin O’Reilly
• 2nd Woman: Leah Walsh
• 1st Witch: Roisin O’Neill
• 2nd Witch: Maedhbh Hannafin
• Spirit: Neeve Batasan
• Sailor: Will Donovan
• Chorus:
  • Carina Hughes, Hannah de Lacy Lawless, Molly Grogan
  • Emily Farren, Edward Finegan, Ryan O'Donnell
  • Grey Hayes, David O'Carroll, Yefim Semenov
     

Director: Sandra Oman

Musical Director: David Wray

Costume Designer: Slawek Narwid

Dido and Aeneas is an opera by English composer Henry Purcell in the late 17th century, based on the mythological romance between Dido, Queen of Carthage, and the Trojan Aeneas. An enemy of Carthage, the Sorceress, sees the two deeply in love and plots to use this to destroy Carthage; she tricks Aeneas into believing the gods want him to sail for Italy. Aeneas is torn between his love for Dido and his faith in the gods and, despite his reservations, eventually sails with the Trojan fleet. After he departs, the famous Dido’s Lament brings the opera to a close. 

Cast:

• Orphée: Edward Finnegan
• Euridice: Ciara Smith
• Pluto: Oisín Ó’Dálaigh
• Jupiter: Brendan Collins
• Public Opinion: Yasmin O’Reilly
• Diane/Cupid: Sorcha O’Regan
• Mercury: David O’Carroll
• Dancer/Maid: Niamh-Ella McCann

Violinist: Katie O'Connor

Director: Mary MacDonagh

Musical Director: David Wray

Orphée aux Enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld) is a comic opera by Jacques Offenbach, first performed in 1858. A satirical adaptation of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, it turns the traditional story on its head: rather than being devoted lovers, Orphée and Eurydice can barely tolerate one another. When Eurydice is carried off to the Underworld by Pluto, Orphée is delighted to be rid of her until he is compelled by the character of Public Opinion to attempt a rescue. What follows is a lively and irreverent comedy featuring quarrelling gods, romantic intrigues and the famous Galop Infernal - better known today as the can-can. The opera ends not in tragedy but in comic fashion, with Eurydice gaining her freedom and escaping a return to her unhappy marriage.