Writing

​

 - opera libretti, choral texts, and song lyrics, 

with recent forays in playwriting

​

Tobin is a former contributing editor for Arc Poetry Magazine.

​

​

​

PLAYS

​

​

2020

Artellectuals

10-minute miniplay, commissioned and premiered March 2020 Spark Festival, Belfry Theatre, Victoria, BC,

in association with SKAM Theatre and Other Guys Theatre Company

​

2019

Trust Me

10-minute miniplay, commissioned and premiered, March 2019 Spark Festival, Belfry Theatre, Victoria, BC

​

Paradise

15-minute miniplay, staged reading, March 2019 Brave New Playrites Festival, Vancouver, BC

​

​

GRAND OPERA (libretti for full-length opera with chorus for large venues)

​

2020

War in the Woods

Full-length libretto for full cast and large chorus. Created with SSHRC scholarship (2018-2019).

Received table read, 2022, Vancouver Opera.

​

​

CHAMBER OPERA (libretti for full-length chamber opera)

​

2017 

Rattenbury

Libretto for opera telling story of architect Frances Rattenbury; his murder and the trial at the Old Bailey in London.

Concert version premiered 2012, Empress Hotel. 15-minute teaser version produced for Kings Head Theatre, London, September 2014. Full production premiered with Pacific Opera Victoria/Other Guys Theatre, Victoria BC, 2017 

 

2015

The Vinedressers

Libretto for opera set in 1880s, Pelee Island, Ontario. Opera premiered 2001 (Belfry Theatre, Victoria) , and was subsequently produced in 2005 (International Kathaumixw Festival, BC), and 2015 (Highlands Opera Studio, Haliburton, Ontario)

 

2008

Nootka

Libretto for opera (in revision) about English and Spanish competing for ownership of First Nations land, Nootka, 1770s 

Performed in concert version, 2008, International Choral Kathaumixw

​

​

SHORT CHAMBER OPERA (libretti for short chamber operas)

​

2016

Waterfront

Libretto for short one-act opera for 3 characters based on imaginary discussions in shuttle on the way to Mars. Premiered in Toronto and performed in many other Ontario venues, 2016, by Bicycle Opera Project, Canada.

 

2015

Bianchi, a five-minute bicycle opera

Libretto for 5-minute opera about two bicycles chasing another bicycle, using every

bicycle pun imaginable. Toured across Ontario and the Maritime provinces by Bicycle Opera Project, 2014, 2015

​

​

MUSICAL THEATRE (lyrics for music in theatre productions)

​

2017

Flotsam and Jetsam: Life on the West Coast

Words for folk songs depicting coastal BC's historic events and characters.

(Performed in Victoria, Burnaby, Nanaimo, 2015-17)

 

2015

Good Timber: Songs and Stories of the Western Logger

Words for folk songs depicting BC's historic logging characters.

(Performed in Victoria, toured Vancouver Island, other BC cities, and

the Pacific Northwest USA)

 

2013

Homeless (theatre) (workshopped)

Words for folk songs depicting homeless people creating community

​

​

CHOIR MUSIC (texts for commissioned, performed choral music)

​

2014

How Can We Be Down

lyrics for a music sung by massed choirs, rhythm section, and 75 ukuleles

 

Thunderbird and Whale

lyrics for choir, soloist, and chamber ensemble

 

2012

Dona Nobis Pacem

lyrics rearranged for a reinterpreted Dona Nobis Pacem in a Dave Brubeck style

 

Blue Green Water

lyrics for children's choir piece with featured soloist

 

2009

Torch Song

lyrics for choirs for the opening of the olympic torch procession, Victoria BC

 

Jump

lyrics for choirs singing at 2010 Olympic venues

 

Rejuvenation!

lyrics for massed choirs, in a gospel style

 

Vox Cubana

lyrics of made-up words for Cuban-inspired choral piece

 

Winding River

lyrics for a choir work describing rivers in the central USA

 

2008

Vox Inuit

lyrics of made-up words for choir piece depicting Inuit throat singing

 

Find Your Fortune

lyrics for BC's 150th celebrations, about gold mining in BC

​

2007

Bamfield 1902

words for choir piece that incorporates Sanford Fleming's first telegram sent around

the world

 

2006

Vox Tronica 

invented words imitating techno music sounds for children's choir, Sung by choirs in festivals across Europe 2006-present

 

Koosen

lyrics for FN story of the bear (the big dipper) for choir piece in Melbourne, Australia

 

2005

The BC Song

Words for music sung by choirs across BC for the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Olympic bid

 

2004

The Perfect Vase

words for large choral cantata with soloists, choirs, and orchestra

​

Harwood Suite

words for choral suite about coastal British Columbia

 

The Black Robes

words about the arrival of the first priests to the Sliammon First Nation

 

Hunker Down

words for mens' choir piece about a storm quickly approaching a BC coastal town

 

Hahm Kwu Y Tlauk Hahm Kwu e Metl

large cantata for choir, orchestra, dancers, elders, and soloists depicting the stories of

the Sliammon people

 

Whut Kwum!

large cantata for choir, orchestra, dancers, elders, and soloists depicting the stories of

the Sliammon people

​

​

​