Organization

Conductor

Timothy Redmond

Stage director

Antony McDonald

Set designer

Costume designer

Lighting designer

Fabiana Piccioli

Singer

Soprano

Mary Plazas

Duchess

Tenor

Adrian Dwyer

Delivery Boy

Bass

Stephen Richardson

Duke

Daire Halpin

Confidante

Opera Theatre Company

Northern Ireland Opera

Powder Her Face

Tralee

Ireland

Siamsa Tíre

Dublin

Sligo

Hawk's Well Theatre

Navan

Solstice Arts Centre

Kilkenny

Wexford

National Opera House

Powder Her Face Adès

Public

Private

Approved

Notorious socialite Margaret Whigham's sensational 1963 divorce from the Duke of Argyll was pure tabloid fodder. Headlines of her extravagances enthralled and titillated a gossip-hungry public in what was perhaps the world's first modern-day sex scandal. 

In this darkly comedic and contemporary opera, Thomas Adès has written a powerful story of an aristocratic woman's fall from grace.  Evoking an earlier nostalgic era of elegance, wit, decadence and jazz, Powder Her Face chronicles the exploits of the cruelly-named "Dirty Duchess" in a roller-coaster ride of celebrity fame to eventual downfall.

The success of this work with audiences worldwide has firmly established Powder Her Face as a classic modern opera. Written by one of today’s most virtuosic composers, this Irish premiere production is directed and designed by‘"One of the wittiest and most visually alert designer-directors around’ - (Opera Now) Antony McDonald  (The Importance of Being Earnest), and with Timothy Redmond conducting, Powder Her Face stars soprano Mary Plazas, as the Duchess, alongside Adrian Dwyer, Stephen Richardson and Irish soprano Daire Halpin.

English

Powder Her Face by Adès, From (2018/2018), Directed by Antony McDonald,, Conductor Timothy Redmond, National Opera House, Wexford, Ireland

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Co-Producer

Program, About & Synopsis

Reviews

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues