Pauline (Stokes opera)
chamber opera by Tobin Stokes
Pauline is a chamber opera in two acts composed by Tobin Stokes to a libretto by Margaret Atwood. Commissioned by City Opera Vancouver, the opera is set in Vancouver in March 1913 during the final days in the life of the Canadian writer and performer Pauline Johnson. It premiered on 23 May 2014 at Vancouver's York Theatre.
Creation and performance history
Poul Ruders's 2000 opera The Handmaid's Tale had a libretto by Paul Bentley based on Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale. However, Pauline marked the Canadian poet, novelist, and literary critic's debut as an opera librettist in her own right. The history of the Pauline libretto began in 1999 when Atwood wrote it as a commission from the Canadian Opera Company for a new opera to be composed by Randolph Peters, but when the composer pulled out, the project was shelved. In 2006 Charles Barber, the Artistic Director of the newly founded chamber opera company City Opera of Vancouver, approached her to write a libretto for a new opera with a signature role for the distinguished British Columbian mezzo-soprano Judith Forst. Atwood suggested using the libretto she had written for the Canadian Opera Company but pared down to make the work suitable for performance as a chamber opera. Christos Hatzis was to be the composer and the opera was due to premiere in 2010 at Vancouver's historic Pantages Theatre.
As Atwood continued the process of revising the libretto, City Opera of Vancouver was unable to reach an agreement with Hatzis and the premiere was postponed.
The public source identifies “Pauline (Stokes opera)” as chamber opera by Tobin Stokes. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Pauline, Stokes and opera.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Pauline (Stokes opera)”, the useful work is to connect “chamber opera by Tobin Stokes” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q18163096. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1913, 2014, 2000 and 1999.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Pauline (Stokes opera)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Pauline (Stokes opera) primary sources, Pauline (Stokes opera) archive and Pauline research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Pauline (Stokes opera)”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Pauline (Stokes opera)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.