Featured Artists

Puoro Whakaari Opera AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND

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.

Co-created by Kenneth Young, Georgia Jamieson Emms and Anna Leese, The Strangest of Angels is 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.

Directed by Friedlander Foundation Associate Artist Eleanor Bishop and starring Anna Leese and Jayne Tankersley. Proudly presented by NZ Opera, Dunedin Arts Festival and Dunedin Symphony Orchestra.

“Many moments to savour and even more for us to think about” – Stuff

*This production of The Strangest of Angels contains scenes referring to historic mental health practices and features a character showing signs of distress. This may be disturbing to those with a lived experience of mental distress and mental illness.

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