Opera North: history and repertoire, seasons 2004– "Peter Grimes". The latter production, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, was garlanded with awards from "The South Bank Show", the Royal Philharmonic Society and the Theatre Management Association. During 2007-8, a mini-festival of operas inspired by William Shakespeare was presented by Opera North. It comprised Verdi's "Falstaff" and "Macbeth", Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette" and Bellini's "I Capuleti e i Montecchi". The latter saw the first appearance with the company by Sarah Connolly, who returned in 2010 for Donizetti's "Maria Stuarda". A second phase of "Transformation", completed in 2009, focused on restoring the former Assembly Rooms, which
Tom Grimes Tom Grimes Tom Grimes is an American novelist, playwright, and creative writing instructor. He currently teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Texas State University in San Marcos, and served as the program's director from 1996 to 2015. Grimes was a promising student at the famed Iowa Writers' Workshop while it was under the direction of Frank Conroy, author of the memoir "Stop-Time". Grimes’ own memoir, "Mentor: A Memoir" (Tin House), is largely concerned with his time in Iowa and his friendship with Conroy, who Grimes first met while writing and working as a waiter in Key West.