Three mini operas — two world premieres

Janice Isabel Jackson — soprano
Sarah Frank — violin & soprano

March 1–4, 6–8, 13–15, 2026 • 7:30pm
Women’s Council House, 989 Young Ave, Halifax
Maximum 25 audience members per performance
Adults $30 • Students & Seniors $25
Tickets:  Click Here to Purchase

An intimate evening of three Canadian operas exploring one haunting legend.

Featured Works

• The House Rules of Order of Shirreff Hall: Penelope’s Story
  Sophie Dupuis, composer • Monica Pearce, librettist
  
• Penelope: Dreamwalker (World premiere)
  Janice Isabel Jackson, composer & librettist
• Do you hear me?
  James Rolfe, composer • Luke Hathaway, librettist

Directed by: Emily Jewer
Costumes: Arianne Pollet‑Brannen
Audio Engineering: Dylan Hay

About the Production

PENELOPE DREAMWALKER dives into the legend of a young woman at Shirreff Hall in the 1920s—pregnant, abandoned, and left with impossible choices. Three operas. Two world premieres. One story that refuses to stay buried.

This trilogy traces Penelope’s presence across time, echoing themes of lost love, constrained choices, gender expectations, and the ways women’s stories are shaped and silenced by the structures around them. A ghost story with a heartbeat.

Three operas, three perspectives

The House Rules of Order of Shirreff Hall reveals the power imbalances and exploitation faced by young women living under institutional authority.  Penelope: Dreamwalker follows Penelope as a maid whose pregnancy and abandonment force her into life‑altering decisions.  Do you hear me? draws on generations of students who have sensed Penelope’s presence, interwoven with the librettist’s own experiences of trans pregnancy and intergenerational queerness.

Though the themes are weighty, the works ultimately speak to communion, connection, and the ways stories and music bridge time, identity, and shifting understandings of gender.

Supported by Arts Nova Scotia