Orpha has worked for opera companies such as the Royal Opera, Glyndebourne, Opera North and Welsh National Opera. Recent awards include the Audience Prize, Ring Award 2005, for her concept of Le Nozze di Figaro with Graz Oper, Austria and Wagner Forum Graz.
A lover of Japanese theatre, Orpha also holds workshops in noh theatre in the UK and throughout Europe. She has recently collaborated with Hideki Noda on his contemporary noh play The Diver for The Soho Theatre, London and The Setagaya Public Theatre, Tokyo.
Orpha was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland. She studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, read economics at University College Galway and was awarded an MA in Arts Criticism from City University, London.