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🎉 Excitement is in the air! Get ready to be part of something extraordinary at Vocalypse Productions' exclusive new production:PENELOPE DREAMWALKER - Ghost of Shirreff Hall
Janice Isabel Jackson, soprano with Sarah Frank, violin
Emily Jewer, director
Arianne Pollet-Brannen, costumes
Dylan Hay, technical director
March 1–4, 6–8, 13–15, 2026 • 7:30pm
PWYC Preview - Saturday Feb 28th - Limited seating, RSVP to reserve a seat: [email protected]
Women’s Council House, 989 Young Avenue, Halifax
Adults $30 • Students/Seniors $25 • Max 25 seats per show
3 Stunning mini operas by 3 Canadian composers:
*The House Rules of Order of Shirreff Hall by Sophie Dupuis
Penelope: Dreamwalker by Janice I Jackson
*Do you hear me? by James Rolfe, libretto by Luke Hathaway
Enter the world of Penelope in the Victorian ambiance of the Women's Council House. Themes of resilience, loss, and gender rights are featured with small audiences viewing the drama up close and personal.
*World Premiere
***Content Note: Some featured operas briefly touch on suicidal ideation and relationship‑based harm, which may be distressing to some people.***
The House Rules of Order of Shirreff Hall
Libretto: Monica Pearse • Composer: Sophie Dupuis
Performers: Janice I Jackson (soprano), Sarah Frank (violin)
Languages: English & French
This opera reframes Penelope’s story through a series of shifting memories. As she revisits a relationship with a trusted teacher that turned exploitative, the truth of what happened — and its tragic consequences — gradually comes into focus. Each variation reveals another layer of her experience, culminating in the moment her life was taken from her. A bilingual score underscores the tension between authority and vulnerability.
Penelope: Dreamwalker
Libretto & Composition: Janice I Jackson
Performer: Janice I Jackson (soprano)
Languages: English & Latin
Working as a maid in Shirreff Hall, Penelope faces hardship, isolation, and an unexpected pregnancy. With few supports and painful memories of the Laundry’s that once confined women like her in Ireland, she struggles to imagine a future. This intimate solo work follows her as she searches for a way out, drawing on the history of the women whose lives were shaped by systems that offered little mercy.
Do you hear me?
Libretto: Luke Hathaway • Composer: James Rolfe
Performers: Janice I Jackson (soprano), Sarah Frank (soprano/violin)
Languages: English & Latin
A century after her death, Penelope’s lively spirit remains in Shirreff Hall, listening for students whose struggles echo her own. She hears those navigating complicated pregnancies, gendered expectations, and the lingering effects of judgment or harm. When she believes she sees her former lover — now carrying a child — she reaches across time in a heartfelt attempt to connect. The violin becomes the collective voice of the many students she has tried to hear and comfort over the years.
Together, these three operas form a powerful, interwoven portrait of Penelope — not as a single figure, but as a lens through which to understand how women and people of many genders have been, and continue to be, placed in vulnerable positions. Each work approaches her story from a different angle: memory, history, and the afterlife. Across these perspectives, the operas illuminate the quiet pressures, systemic failures, and deeply human struggles that shape the lives of those who are exploited or unheard. Rather than dwelling on harm, the trilogy uses music, language, and imagination to honour resilience, expose long-standing inequities, and invite audiences to reflect on how these patterns persist today.
Generously sponsored by a grant from Arts Nova Scotia
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Event Venue
989 Young Ave, Halifax, NS B3H 2V9, Canada
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