In a scandalous new queer opera, Conor Mitchell & Belfast Ensemble delve into the seedy underbelly of Victorian London… 

Dublin Jack - Jack Saul - is one of Ireland’s most infamous erotic exports.  He ran a roaring trade as a rent boy working in Victorian London - exploiting his sexual currency, and cashing in on aristocratic desire.

A self described ‘professional Mary Ann’, Jack’s commitment to his work and exuberant lack of discretion eventually led to his arrest.  

His outrageous trial sparked a moral panic that swept across the British Empire - bringing about a new wave of homophobic attitudes and brutal anti-sodomy laws -  still reverberating around the world today. 

After concert presentations in Dublin, London, and Belfast, the Ensemble are advancing production plans for  this dark and sexy new work - holding space to unpack the messy powerplays of agency, class, and colonialism tied up in queer Anglo-Irish identity.