Poorhouse International: Catalogue results

	TITLE: The Strangest of Angels
	Director: Rebecca Tansley Genre: Chamber Opera Format: HD Composer: Kenneth Young Contributors: Libretto: Georgia Jamieson Emms, Singers: Anna Leese, Jane Tankersley Company: NZ Opera Runtime: 54' minutes. ID: 456.

SYNOPSIS

This chamber opera is a collaboration between three New Zealand creatives: writer Georgia Jamieson Emms, composer Kenneth Young and Soprano Anna Leese. The plot is based on an episode in writer Janet Frame´s life. She was wrongly diagnosed with schizophrenia and later released from the asylum where she spent years locked up. Rebecca Tansley with a stunning Semele to her credit shot the opera on location with singback technique. It leaves the audience to ponder the wider question of authority and mental health – who gets to decide who is sane and who is not. Composer Kenneth Young conducts members of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. Jane Tankersley sings the part of Janet Frame and Anna Leese the fictional nurse Katherine Baillie.