World premiere performances of a new chamber opera by Alasdair Nicolson and librettist John Gallas. The Iris Murder is the first of two 25th birthday commissions from Scottish based composers by Hebrides Ensemble. The opera features three characters. Rawley Beaunes, whose ideas and dress are rooted in the 1950s; Iris, a singing flower who Rawley encounters on a visit to the woods, and ghost The Green Man. Rawley throws flowers onto mounds of earth in the woods. He meets Iris and in anger knocks her head off. Thinking nothing of it, he settles at home on his 42nd birthday to reflect on his life. But the Green Man summons him to trial for the murder of Iris. As punishment, Rawley is forced to see the world in all its darkness before being returned to normal life.
Alasdair Nicolson Music. John Gallas Libretto. Elizabeth Llewellyn Iris. Christopher Bowen Rawley Beaunes. Andrew Fellowes The Green Man. Martin Constantine Director. William Conway Musical Director. Gabriella Slade Set and Costume Designer. Mark Doubleday Lighting Designer.