HBO's "True Blood" Actress Fiona Shaw Directs Opera

Fiona Shaw easily morphs from
television witchery to a Da Ponte romp
with the greatest of ease.

It should come as no surprise that Irish actress Fiona Shaw, who plays Marnie Stonebrook on the HBO hit series True Blood, would have a connection to opera. Her character on the blood-thirsty drama is described as "...timid and socially awkward medium who serves as leader of a local Wiccan group. She poses a threat to humans and vampires alike." Sounds pretty operatic. But for a woman who has gained famed acting out the roles of Medea, Electra and Portia in Julius Caesar on the world's greatest stages, opera directing seems like a natural extension of her talents. She acted in many plays directed by Deborah Warner who entered the opera arena with works for Glyndebourne, English National Opera and a production of Dido & Aeneas with Les Arts Florissants that played in Vienna, Paris and Amsterdam. There is little doubt that it was Ms. Warner's influence that may have pushed Ms. Shaw toward an operatic directorial debut after a 24-year working relationship with each other. The production was Riders to the Sea, a one-act drama by Ralph Vaughan Willams, that took place at English National Opera in 2008. Since then she has reappeared at ENO to direct Henze's Elegy for Young Lovers in April 2010 and will return to the company in October 2011 to direct a production of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Or perhaps it was Ms. Shaw's mother that exerted that most influence on her daughter's decisions. Before becoming a physicist she had another career in mind for herself: opera singer. [Source, Source, Source ]

Read a wonderful article written by Fiona Shaw in 2008 describing why she chose Riders to the Sea as her opera-directing debut by clicking here. Learn more about the actress by clicking here. A complete biography after the jump.

Listen to the complete Riders to the Sea:



VIDEO GUIDE: Listen to Fiona Shaw narrate a specially commissioned short film which gives an introduction to Glyndebourne Opera House; Watch the actress perform a prologue to Purcell's Dido & Aeneas filled with works by Hughes, Eliot and Yeats, at the Opéra Comique in 2009; An interview with Ms. Shaw describing her preparation for Henze's Elegy for Young Lovers; A preview to the upcoming production of Le Nozze di Figaro at ENO with commentary by Fiona Shaw.


BONUS CLIP: Fiona Shaw recorded a PSA, along with other cast members of True Blood, for the "It Gets Better" project: