Why didn’t anyone think of this before? Surely it was obvious enough, but it took a brave Irish man to actually go and do it. Gerald Barry is one of Ireland’s greatest living composers, he was born in 1952 and studied with Stockhausen and Kagel in Germany in his youth. The Imoprtance of being Earnest is his fifth opera, and was written for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Barbican, London.

It is touring Ireland starting tomorrow in Cork, and is in the Gaiety in Dublin on November 8th and 9th. I’d advise you to watch the video below, Gerald is very entertaining!

NI Opera and Wide Open Opera are proud to present the Irish premiere and tour of Gerald Barry’s riotous new opera The Importance Of Being Earnest at the Millennium Forum, Derry (as part of the City of Culture celebrations) touring to the Grand Opera House, Belfast, Cork Opera House and The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin from October 26 – November 9.

Based on Oscar Wilde’s farcical comedy about sex and deceit, the opera has already been a huge hit in Los Angeles, Nancy and London. This hilarious work was first performed in Los Angeles in 2011 at the L.A. Philharmonic and subsequently at the Lindbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House, London last year (2012). The Financial Times called it “A unique piece of music theatre that would surely have had Wilde smiling at its pure outrageousness”, while The Independent (UK) called it “a manic, renegade thrill…the most confident, volatile comic opera for a decade”, whilst The Guardian praised the score’s “sheer uninhibited exuberance”. Featuring orchestral parts for pistols, a duet sung through megaphones and a climax of plate smashing, this is no ordinary opera! It is, however, a hilarious and astonishing contemporary work that perfectly captures the spirit of one of Ireland’s best-loved playwrights and Ireland’s greatest living composer.

Wide Open Opera’s Artistic Director Fergus Sheil said: “Only somebody as crazy and foolhardy as Gerald Barry would attempt to match Oscar Wilde’s perfection and wit in The Importance of Being Earnest. Only Gerald Barry’s genius could possibly have brought it off – not only measuring up to Wilde’s flawless precision, but adding unimagined contemporary dimensions to this much-loved work. Opera audiences throughout Ireland are in for an amazing treat with this hysterical score in a dazzling new production.

This brand new co-production from NI Opera and Wide Open Opera features a fantastic international cast led by Belfast-born Aoife Miskelly. Directed and designed by award-winning Antony McDonald, with Pierre-André Valade conducting Ireland’s Crash Ensemble, this is a unique chance to see the first Irish performances of an opera destined to become a modern classic.

MILLENNIUM FORUM, Derry – Saturday 26 October | 7.30pm | £16stg – £30stg

Box office: +44 (0)28 7126 4455 /

GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Belfast – Wednesday 30 October | 7.30pm | £16stg – £30stg

Box office: +44 (0)28 9024 1919

CORK OPERA HOUSE – Saturday 2 November | 8.00pm | €26 – €41.

Box office: +353 (0)21 427 0022  /

GAIETY THEATRE, Dublin – Friday 8 & Saturday 9 November | 8.00pm | €25 – €45

Box office: +353 (0)1 679 5622  /