Vancouver Opera presents Jonathan Dove’s Flight on February 8, 13, and 16

Morris Panych directs the acclaimed opera set in an airport departure lounge, inspired by the true story of an Iranian refugee

SPONSORED POST BY Vancouver Opera

Pacific Opera Victoria’s 2020 production of Flight. Cast members include Allyson McHardy, Neil Craighead, Emilia Boteva, Kimy McLaren, William Towers, John Brancy, Sharleen Joynt, Jacqueline Woodley, and John Robert Lindsey. Photo by David Cooper

Vancouver Opera’s 65th season soars into 2025 with a new production of Flight, a contemporary masterpiece by renowned composer Jonathan Dove, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on February 8, 13, and 16.

Inspired by a remarkable true story—one that also inspired the Tom Hanks movie The Terminal—Flight masterfully blends humour, heartbreak, and hope into an unforgettable operatic experience. This stunning production is helmed by the internationally acclaimed Canadian creative team of director Morris Panych, set designer Ken MacDonald, costume designer Dana Osborne, and lighting designer Alan Brodie.

Set in the unlikely locale of an airport departure lounge, Flight revolves around The Refugee, who watches on as the airport swirls with colourful characters that find their lives unexpectedly intertwined during a storm-induced delay. There’s Bill and Tina, who hope to stoke the embers of a dull marriage; The Steward and The Stewardess, whose embers require no additional stoking; a diplomat and his very pregnant wife; a woman awaiting a lover 30 years her junior; The Immigration Officer; and The Controller, who oversees operations high above the concourse.

Flight is inspired by the true story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian refugee who lived in Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years. Dove’s soaring music and April De Angelis’s libretto build a narrative that resonates deeply with contemporary audiences.

Director Panych and set designer MacDonald drew inspiration from Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen’s iconic TWA Flight Center at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, crafting a set with curving wings and soaring, light-filled windows that convey an airport’s transitory nature.

Flight’s principal singers include Cameron Shahbazi in his Vancouver Opera debut as The Refugee, Caitlin Wood as The Controller, Asitha Tennekoon as Bill, Megan Latham as The Older Woman, Clarence Frazer as The Steward, Neil Craighead as Minskman, Stephanie Tritchew as Minkswoman, and Henry Chen as The Immigration Officer. Joining Shahbazi in their Vancouver Opera company debuts are Andriana Chuchman as Tina and Alex Hetherington as The Stewardess. Conductor Leslie Dala leads the Vancouver Opera Orchestra.

Tickets to Flight are available through Vancouver Opera.

Post sponsored by Vancouver Opera.

---

Related Articles