What began as a budget constraint became a revelation: when Emma O’Halloran couldn’t afford a librettist, she turned to her uncle, the celebrated Irish actor-playwright Mark O’Halloran. Adapting his fierce short play Mary Motorhead into an opera showed Emma the power of direct, unflowery text—and the joy of music layered with words. Their partnership grew into Trade and beyond, a collaboration marked by trust, humility, and discovery. For Emma, it was also a backdoor into opera itself: a genre she once dismissed but now embraces as fertile ground for creative exchange.

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