Commissioned by Tapestry New Opera for its 2009 Opera to Go program, The Perfect Screw premiered on March 27, 2009. The one-act opera was directed by Tom Diamond, with music directed by Wayne Strongman. Set and costumes were designed by Julia Tribe, with Jung-Hye Kim, and lighting by Kimberly Purtell. The cast included Peter McGillivray as Robertson, Sally Dibblee as Amalia, Keith Klassen as Phillips, and Scott Belluz as Ford. That same year, the opera was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Musical/Opera.

The Perfect Screw is a chamber opera created with librettist Alexis Diamond and commissioned by Tapestry. It is scored for soprano, countertenor, tenor, and baritone, with instruments clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, and piano. As the title suggests, the opera is an outrageous comedy, but the music and characters are often played quite seriously, making it even funnier. The music emphasizes and exaggerates the story and characters. A fictional Henry Ford/aka the Devil (countertenor), has seductive or evil music. Robertson's music is steady and dependable, while Philips is appealing, yet can be fickle. As Amalia wanders in a big box store with nobody around, we hear a clip of "The Girl From Ipanema" over the speakers while the ensemble starts to play alienated disparate music. The question of which screwdriver to buy turns into a racy love aria in the store aisle. This fun work, while not taking itself too seriously, is filled with dramatic and satisfying music filled with character.

- Abigail Richardson-Schulte

“The Perfect Screw, at 37 minutes, the evening’s longest and strongest piece, by composer Abigail Richardson and librettist Alexis Diamond. It uses the Phillips vs. Robertson screw debate as a metaphor for Yanks vs. Canucks, to brilliant, comic effect. All hail new opera!”

- John Tetrauds, The Toronto Star (26 March 2009)

“The scene where the contemporary Amalia pushes the orange shopping cart of a well-known hardware chain through imaginary aisles, poignantly singing of ‘wandering endlessly,’ was priceless. And the opera’s climax slyly subverts its own over-the-top phallicism: When Robertson magically witnesses the modern-day triumph of his screw, it’s clear the real turn-on for Amalia is her newfound power as a handywoman. Like all good metaphors, the story spoke to people on its nuts-and-bolts level. Richardson’s well-paced score leapt agilely from thought to thought, and included several satisfying ensemble numbers.”

- Tamara Bernstein, The Globe and Mail (28 March 2009)

“At times hilarious, at other times moving, The Perfect Screw explores the whole range of the operatic emotional canon. That it does so while giving a history lesson on the invention of the Robertson and Phillips screw— that it’s so very big while about something so very small—is a remarkable feat.”

- Ryan Oakley, mooneyontheatre.com (29 March 2009)

Nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Musical/Opera (2009)

“P.L. Robertson was a Canadian inventor who was one of the first to solve successfully the major drawback of the common slot screw fastener: its annoying tendency to cam out and strip the head and damage the surrounding surfaces.

His invention, the Robertson square drive fastener, was simple to manufacture, requiring only two blows from the stamping head to shape the head and form the tapered recess for the driver. Robertson was so assured of the superiority of his invention, that he tried to sell it to Henry Ford to facilitate the assembly of his automobiles. Henry Ford saw the merit of his invention and the time he could shave off the assembly line, so he offered to buy outright the rights to the invention.

P.L. Robertson refused, wanting to keep the rights to himself. So the Robertson never made it in the US, while it became a staple here in Canada, and Henry Ford, still liking the idea, had someone else come up with an alternative... The Phillips cruciform (or star) fastener."

- Valley Woodworker Blog