Oakes wrote the text for the television opera The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit (1995) by the Irish composer Gerald Barry, commissioned by Channel Four. In the summer of 2002 this was staged in a production by director/designer Nigel Lowery for Almeida Opera, at the Aldeburgh Festival and in London, and also performed in the autumn at the Berlin Festwochen.
Oakes wrote the script for the television opera "The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit" (1995) by Irish composer Gerald Barry, commissioned by Channel Four. In 2002, this production was staged by director/designer Nigel Lowery at the Aldeburgh Festival and in London, as well as performed in Berlin during the autumn.