Rob Partridge
Rob Partridge is a librettist, author and poet, and he will happily tell you that writing an opera is the easy part. Getting a room full of singers, musicians and one anxious director to agree on anything is the actual job, and it is a job he has been doing for years.
He has written the operas Neon, The Kings Shadow and Peacock Lounge, and the chamber operas The Conjuring, Sunday Night Zoom and Witches Lament. His librettos are built for big voices, big feelings and the occasional glorious mess, and they come with a house style: wit that lands, hearts that hurt, and words a singer can actually get their mouth around.
He is the founder of Opera Unhinged, which runs proudly on the motto "librettos for the latte generation", because opera belongs to everyone, not just the people who already know which fork to use. He is also a published author and poet. His collection Bothán Bound is out now on Amazon, and he has been known to describe himself as a poet who occasionally writes operas, or an opera writer who occasionally writes poems, depending on who is buying the drinks.
We could not be prouder. Rob has been part of Unhinged from the very beginning. Shaping its vision, its values, and its artistic direction. To have him step into this role as our first Librettist in Residence feels like the most natural and exciting next step for the organisation. There is no one we trust more to shape the words of what comes next.
Before the opera house there were the studios and the stages. Rob spent years as a stage manager, in television and in theatre, which means he learned early that the show must go on even when the autocue dies, the guest is late, the gallery is shouting and the quick change is happening in thirty seconds. That training has never left him. Calm in chaos is his natural habitat, and it turns out to be exactly what opera needs.
Rob now lives in Galway, having swapped the UK for the west of Ireland, a trade he recommends to anyone with a raincoat. He is deaf, and he treats that as a professional advantage: the libretto is the one part of an opera you can actually read, so the words had better be worth reading. He writes them like his life depends on it, because the music will do the rest.
He was also Mr Bear Ireland 2026, because even librettists deserve a crown.
What the Residency Means
The Librettist in Residence role sits at the heart of Unhinged's artistic programme. Over the coming months and seasons, Rob will:
- Write the libretti for Unhinged's Operas, from first spark to opening night
- Create fresh words for salon nights, poetry evenings, and intimate chamber performances
- Lead collaborative projects that bring together writers, musicians, and performers
- Mentor emerging writers and poets and contribute to Unhinged's workshop programme
- Shape the artistic voice of Unhinged as it grows
We are excited to see what Rob writes in this new chapter. More announcements about his first projects will follow soon.