Naomi’s Road, which details a young Japanese-Canadian girl’s experiences as her family is interned during World War II, is a coming-of-age story that celebrates the power of hope, cultural understanding and compassion. This compelling and emotional story is taken from one of our country’s most painful and complex social periods, a time that for ...

"Bentley’s libretto is based on Frank O’Connor’s translation of the celebrated 1780 Gaelic poem by Brian Merriman (1749-1805), a work surprisingly contemporary in its frank discussion of women’s sexual needs and how men fail to meet them.  In Bentley’s adaptation Merriman himself becomes the opera’s central figure who falls asleep on a midsummer...

2003: After leaking torture photos to the internet, American army translator Alessandra Jenson refuses to be hushed up, and live streams her suicide in protest.

The pilot watches Hope from afar. They meet and become lovers.

Thomas has brought Lise to become Hope's tutor, but Hope has grown up and wants to leave the house. Lise warns her not to give her love away to just anyone.

Hope grows up quickly, climbing out of her crib as a woman of twenty-one. She sings to herself, wanting to leave the house.

Hope introduces the pilot to her family. He leaves, and Hope argues with her parents about going with him.

The Child is bored. She reads several books in an effort to learn all the things she shouldn’t do, say, feel, or see. Lucifer simply asks her why, attempting to get her attention on him instead of books. She finds a name, Iblis, and taunts him.

Akakiy reveals his fascination with numbers, and the chorus announces they’ll help keep track of things. His landlady enters to bring him some cabbage soup- and something more, which he refuses.

After rushing to work, Akakiy is bullied by his coworkers. He’s too good at his job, and it’s making the rest of them look bad.

Petrovich declares Akakiy’s coat is completely unfixable, but also that this is the chance for Akakiy to choose something new. Of course, he’ll have to pay.

Akakiy gets caught in rush hour and arrives late to find the head the department telling a sad story about encountering a homeless vagrant. Annoyed at being interrupted, the head of the department grills Akakiy on his little notebook of numbers. Akakiy explains he was using it to find ways to save money, which gives the head an idea. He’ll cut c...

The name day party. Everyone is dressed to the nines, but Akakiy adds up to at least an eleven. They fawn over his coat, going so far as to toast to it. Akakiy forgets to count his drinks, and ends up completely drunk. He gets lost on the way home, winding up in the rough part of town. Akakiy asks two men for directions, but instead, they knock ...

After days of near catatonia in his cold apartment, the landlady asks Petrovich to repair Akakiy’s old coat, to no avail. Even his coworkers arrive to check in, but by then, Akakiy is unreachable. Akakiy is committed to a mental hospital. Once he arrives, the other residents encourage him to look at things a little differently. It turns out he h...

A cleric prepares for confessional. Someone enters the booth. The cleric realizes it’s a man with whom he shared a mutual attraction. The man has recently finished gay conversion therapy and wishes to resume some kind of a relationship.

Traumatized by her experiences, Alessandra reflects on her work as a translator in an American military prison.

Colonel Crane, Alessandra's supervisor, tersely tells her to lose what her perceives as her naive sense of morality: "We are just here to win."

Thomas and Claire meet at a party and fall in love.

Lucifer taunts the Child in a cell. She doesn't understand what she's done wrong.

Queen Liz imagines what it would be like to be free.

Irish pirate Chieftain Grace O'Malley sneaks into the bedroom of Queen Elizabeth I of England, and convinces the Queen to give her back her ship and free her lover. In return Grace will attend the Queen's birthday celebration and cause a sensation - which delights Liz.

An interrogator turns his lurid eyes on an imprisoned female activist. Purposefully misunderstanding her movements as seduction, he convinces himself of something horrid.

An intersex woman wins a gold medal, but her struggles to get there mean nothing to the organization and the other athletes. She’s disqualified and shamed.

The Child is taught a lesson. She attempted to speak her truth, but was met with discipline.

A businessman is waiting for a streetcar, with his back to an unhoused woman. The two silently judge each other. The man is annoyed at seeing someone who wants something for nothing, and the woman is feeling judged for a situation she has no control over. The two finally acknowledge each other, and we discover their shared experience.

Eurydice C is shown her Elysium with Orpheus in the garden - she is not sure she wants him there, but it fades before she can decide. The CEO brings her back to reality and closes the presentation.

Eurydice C remembers different versions of her lover in an Arioso, Bourrée, and Passacaglia. She questions what might have been, before Calliope calls her back to the present.

In memory, Eurydice C's painter lover pushes her to allow him to paint her and make love to her, even though she is reluctant.

Calliope and the Muses lead Eurydice C into her subconscious, to the memory of her first love.

Eurydice volunteers to test new A.I. technology that promises to capture your most vivid memories and curate your perfect virtual afterlife. Lab techs hand out eye masks to the audience.

At the President's office, Jason and the President discuss family, how to be a good father, and a possible future for Jason in politics.

The Child questions Lucifer’s role as tempter, while he tempts with growing intensity. He chastises the Child for bowing to authority. She erupts in anger, pushing the books aside and leaving the cage.

A distraught woman is trying to report her sexual assault to a policeman. She admits she’s had some alcohol. Instead of pursuing justice, the policeman arrests her for illegal possession of alcohol. The Child witnesses all of it.

Lucifer is enraged at the unfairness put upon him. The Child sees, and has an idea. Perhaps the system should be broken. When Lucifer realizes the Child has seen his truth, he tries to hide his emotions.

A watcher looks over a group of faithful. His irritation turns to hatred as he accuses them of subversion. He claims to have proof hidden in some papers, but the Child has destroyed them. The Child proclaims “I know what to do,” and the tension between authority and people escalates. The Child begins taking pages and notes from all the surroundi...

The Child creates her own book from pages of other books. She hands out her new rules to the audience.

Lucifer rebuilds the cage, then tries to convince the audience to join him in self-exile.

In her prime, Jackie admits she finds the pace of touring life dizzying. The sycophants at parties are starting to get to her.

The Child is led back to the book cage, and performers take their places.

A child walks on a beach, in search of their parents.

The Child is allowed out of her cage, with a warning she can have anyting she wants except for one thing. She asks what it might be, and in a Kafka-esque reply they say, “you know.”

Jason, M'dea, and the soldiers return from war to a celebratory crowd. Some do not trust the new foreigner, M'dea.

At a party, the Corporal mocks Jason for needing M'dea to help him win and for bringing her home.

Jason and M'dea are expecting a baby. Citizens gossip about the couple.

Lucifer jangles an entrancing key in front of the Child and a young boy. This key promises to open the gates of heaven, but the boy has his own doubts about that. Nevertheless, he zips up his vest...

The President invites Jason to be his running mate, and begins to remake him. This process sidelines M'dea and Chase. Dahlia and Jason are attracted to one other.

The party is about to announce Jason's candidacy. Jason and Dahlia dance together, oblivious to all the others. Enraged, M'dea smashes a glass wall, showering fragments over the party guests.

Jason and Dahlia are getting married. The citizens gossip.

The President gives an election victory speech.

The citizens gossip about the murder.

As Lucifer tries again to get the Child to go with him, the Child finds out who Lucifer is in one of the books of the cell.

Cormack presents his findings about Shanawdithit to the members of the Beothuk institute.

Shanawdithit reprimands Cormack for his saviour complex.

Cormack’s study in St. John’s, now Shanawdithit’s room. “Nancy April” reveals she can speak English quite well, and tells Cormack her real name: Shanawdithit. Cormack asks her where the rest of her people are, where her home is. Shanawdithit says simply: they are no more. Shanawdithit reflects on the loss of her people and the taking of her aunt...

The taking of Demasduit weighs heavy on Shanawdithit’s heart. Cormack, unsure of what to do, tries to comfort her, saying Demasduit was treated well. Shawnadithit asks if white people actually care about her people, her story, because Cormack’s words are betrayed by the actions of his fellows, and indeed, his own. Cormack insists he will ensure ...

Shanawdithit describes the last days of her family as they were pushed from their land and then hunted. She asks Cormack not to speak of their death, but of their life. Cormack is ecstatic and gets lost in the memories Shanawdithit paints. She breaks his reverie with the cold fact that the life she speaks of will never happen again. She collapse...

Cormack tries to raise funds for Shanawdithit’s care without success. James Simms offers to care for her while Cormack is away.

A book pleads with the audience to be read. A rhythmic chorus rises. A tribute to the banned, the burned, and the hidden.