By Andrew Clark [Financial Times, 31 October 2005]

When the curtain fell on Carlisle Floyd's Susannah in the southern Irish town of Wexford last week, it was hard to predict the embattled heroine's future. Despite her poor background Susannah was attractive enough to stand out in any crowd. But by refusing to conform to small-town standards, she was exposing herself to all sorts of risk. Had she doomed herself to a life of struggle - or opened the gate of opportunity? Floyd, an American who composed the opera 50 years ago, deliberately left the question open.