Women of the Windrush - An Opera by Shirley J Thompson

Nadine Benjamin stars in Shirley J Thompson’s one-woman, one-act opera which weaves together filmic documentary and song in a heart-warming love letter to the resilience of the Windrush migrants.

Newly arrived in England from the West Indies, a student nurse, a concert pianist, a cricketer’s wife, and a new bride are faced with the challenge of starting a new life. For Thompson - who revisited her 1992 film adding a specially-composed score - Women of the Windrush is personal. Dedicated to her ‘Windrush’ mother, it’s a celebration of community, identity, and often painful acclimatisation.

The composer of New Nation Rising: A 21st Century Symphony, commissioned for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, Shirley J Thompson draws on deep wells of family experience for her revelatory 2019 multi-media Windrush opera. Shouldering its vocal demands is Nadine Benjamin, a soprano with credits ranging from the Royal Opera House to Glyndebourne. Hers, insists Opera Today, is ‘a voice to die for’.