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| Joseph Phibbs & Dominic Sandbrook: Mrs T - Lucy Schaufer as Mrs T in rehearsal (Photo: Claire Shovelton) |
Whether you love her or hate her, Mrs Thatcher remains an iconic figure but not a character who would immediately make you think of opera. However, ever since John Adams and Alice Goodman's 1978 opera Nixon in China (based on Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China), contemporary politics has proved surprising source-material for new operas. Now composer Joseph Phibbs and historian Dominic Sandbrook have teamed up to place Mrs Thatcher at the centre of a new opera. On 12 June 2026 at Kings Place, Mrs T: The Iron Lady Sings will showcase scenes from their new opera, Mrs T directed by Lucy Bradley, conducted by Lee Reynolds with Lucy Schaufer as Mrs T.
This will be Joseph Phibbs' second opera, his first was Juliana based on an updating of Strindberg's Miss Julie and first performed at the Cheltenham Festival [see my interview with Joseph]. Dominic Sandbrook is an historian best known as the co-host of The Rest Is History podcast. Their new opera is set against the backdrop of the turbulent 1980s, and it explores key events during Mrs Thatcher’s time in office: the Falklands War, the Cold War, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the rise of patriotic nationalism that would eventually foster deep scepticism toward Europe, sowing the seeds of Brexit.
These growing fractures – both political and personal – provide the dramatic impetus to transform a political symbol into a complex woman whose downfall carries the scale, emotional depth, and wit of a Shakespearean play.
Joseph explains that as he grew up in the 1980s Mrs Thatcher was the only Prime Minister he knew until he was 15 and that she still looms large as a political presence. Then some five years ago, Joseph was rewatching the BBC documentary, The Downing Street Years which covers her eleven years in office. Joseph found it highly dramatic, and he thought it would make a compelling opera, with Mrs Thatcher as a convincing opera character. He adds that composers are always looking for ideas for operas.Whilst the idea might have seemed outlandish, Joseph became convinced and 2025, the year of Mrs Thatcher's centenary, seemed a good time to try and launch the idea. When it came to a librettist, Joseph had been listening to The Rest is History podcast. Dominic Sandbrook also writes on UK post-War history and Joseph loved his writing. Approached with the idea of an opera, Dominic Sandbrook responded warmly, and told Joseph about a letter that Mrs Thatcher wrote to a speechwriter in 1978 when, following a visit to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita, she commented that she could provide material for an opera!
‘If we apply the same perfection and creativeness to our message,
we should provide quite good historic material for an opera called “Margaret” in 30 years’ time,’
Dominic Sandbrook was upfront that this was his first libretto. Joseph took him the libretto of his first opera Juliana as a sample of the sort of language that suited Joseph's music. In the resulting libretto Dominic Sandbrook pares the language right down. They had long discussions about it, and Joseph calls the libretto brilliant and dramatic. It distils events down to their essence.
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| Joseph Phibbs & Dominic Sandbrook: Mrs T - Joseph Phibbs, Lee Reynolds, Lucy Bradley in rehearsal (Photo: Claire Shovelton) |
For the libretto Dominic Sandbrook has stuck closely to the facts, in terms of chronology and what is going on, but there is a more mythic quality to the way the lines are delivered. They have allowed themselves some dramatic licence, so that though Mrs Thatcher did dance with President Ronald Reagan it perhaps did not happen at the time they say. There was also the difficulty of what to include and what to omit. The opera is still a work in progress and following the 12 June showcase (when 45 minutes of scenes from Act One will be performed alongside a Q&A), the work may develop further down the line.
However, Joseph really sees that politics just as a backdrop and the intention in the opera is to explore Mrs Thatcher as a personality, see how she reacted to political events. Her relationship to Geoffrey Howe is a thread through the opera, exploring it in detail, how it deteriorated; he was a quiet unassuming figure and her humiliation of him led him to wield the knife in his brilliantly savage resignation speech that led to her downfall. Though not in the scenes being showcased, the opera also includes Howe's wife Elspeth who despised Mrs Thatcher.
In the opera, Howe (played by baritone Marcus Farnsworth) is seen as deferential to Mrs Thatcher but then loses his temper and screams at her, and there is an aria for him where he muses on being snubbed by Mrs Thatcher. Another character in the opera is Michael Heseltine (played by tenor Robert Forrest) who represents the younger generation. The opera also looks at Mrs Thatcher's relationship with her personal assistant, seeing what she was like behind closed doors. For instance, she was deeply affected by the deaths of soldiers in the Falkland crisis, showing a side to her rather different from her public persona.
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| Joseph Phibbs & Dominic Sandbrook: Mrs T - Marcus Farnsworth as Geoffrey Howe in rehearsal (Photo: Claire Shovelton) |
On 12 June they will showcase some 45 minutes of music from Act One with piano accompaniment. Ultimately, the finished work is intended to be in two acts (5 or 6 scenes per act) lasting around two hours with instrumental or orchestral accompaniment. The showcase takes in most of Act One up until the election victory in 1983 after winning in the Falklands.
What also interests Joseph is that Mrs Thatcher was extraordinary in her time. She was the first European woman Prime Minister, and she functioned in an almost male-dominated arena. There were the social issues too, she was simply a grocer's daughter. As a result she had a lot to fight against, and perhaps this led to her unwavering character and strident delivery. She carried with her a sense of invincibility, she did not listen to advice, and this conviction and strength ultimately toppled her. But these issues are also why she makes a good subject for an opera. The piece has a clear dramatic arc, beginning with coming to power in a blaze of glory and ending with her leaving office.
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| Joseph Phibbs & Dominic Sandbrook: Mrs T - cast & creatives (Photo: Claire Shovelton) |
The opera benefits from a great team under director Lucy Bradley. Lucy Schaufer, whom Joseph commends for being a wonderful actor, has captured both the strident and moving aspects to Mrs Thatcher's character. Joseph hopes that after the 12 June performance they will have people come on board as partners for the finished work, and there have already been encouraging signs of interest.
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