Still, life…

World Premiere
A Wexford Festival Opera Commission
Libretto and Music by Ailís Ní Ríain

15, 20, 23, 25, 28 and 30 October 2026

As Wexford Festival Opera's composer-in-residence, Ailís Ní Ríain was commissioned to create Still, life... an entirely original immersive work combining elements of opera, video, imagery and text.

Ní Ríain works in the areas of concert music, site responsive installation and public art, opera, electro-acoustic and music-theatre.

Inspired by a short story by William Goyen, Still, life… a site-responsive, installation-opera investigates a small town's reaction to a man who decides to sit on top of a flagpole and stays there for forty days without explaining why. The work explores the collision between individual mystery and collective conformity and considers the way society experiences mystery and individuality.

Creative Team

Stage Director                                        Noeline Kavanagh
Video Artist                                             Louise Manifold
Community Chorus Vocal Coach        Elizabeth Drwal
Costume Designer                                 Elisa Rosciglioni