Brass Poppies

In a nutshell:
Lest we forget / Gallipoli seen from afar / War stories our mothers never told us

This ground-breaking new chamber opera from Ross Harris and Vincent O’Sullivan (Requiem for the Fallen) brings powerfully to life how Gallipoli was a domestic New Zealand story as well as a military one. Wives and families at home are as much to the fore as men in uniform at the front in an innovative depiction of the 1915 battle of Chunuk Bair. 

Directed by Jonathan Alver, with Stroma New Music Ensemble conducted by Hamish McKeich and award-winning tenor James Egglestone as Lieutenant-Colonel William Malone, Brass Poppies offers fresh perspectives on World War I, along with music and emotional resonances that will stay with you long after the curtain falls. 

Co-produced by Auckland Arts Festival, New Zealand Festival and New Zealand Opera with support from the Lottery Grants Board.

Photograph: Troop image courtesy of Richard Stowers collection; manipulated cottage image (ref: 1/1-026571-G) courtesy of Alexander Turnbull Library.

Post-show talk: Friday 11 March