When the Sun Comes Out was commissioned and produced by the Queer Arts Festival Vancouver. A love story encompassing resistance against the state, this opera explores the oppression that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people face—and the risks they take in nations where homosexuality is illegal.

Set in an imaginary country called Fundamentalia, a country where violation of gender roles is punishable by death, When the Sun Comes Out tells the story of two women, Lilah – a young, sheltered, and wealthy married mother, and Solana – a gender outlaw and rebellious outsider just passing through, as she’s passed through so many other countries in her restless, futile quest for happiness. Lilah and Solana fall in love, but their connection is discovered by Lilah’s enraged and unpredictable husband, Javan, who in turn reveals what is also hidden in his heart.