An opera about the exploits of a family of Travellers who wreaked havoc across New Zealand in 2019 has angered Kiwis who would sooner forget the sorry episode.

The large Nolan clan made regular headlines - both back at home and Down Under - for melodi99 the time they were in the country and over the chaos they caused.

Its members caused chaos on their inbound flight, would eat at restaurants without paying their bills, leave litter across idyllic beaches and threaten locals with violence.

The mere mention of their name brings back angry memories for many.

Things got so bad, New Zealanders even launched a petition to have the family kicked out of the country. They were eventually deported by authorities.

Now, an opera in New Zealand is putting the family from Liverpool back in the spotlight, outraging some Kiwis - who would rather never have to think about the Nolans again - without the family even being in the far-flung country.

- the operatic satire about the media frenzy that followed the family across the country - opened in Auckland on Thursday night.

The New Zealand Opera website bills the 2 hour 15 minute show as a 'raucous comedy' full of 'satire, action and good old-fashioned Kiwi humour intertwined with soaring melodies and riveting chorus ensembles'.

It says: 'In a tale from living memory, a flock of badly-behaved tourists spread a trail of rubbish, fuel a national obsession, make international headlines and land the visitors in local courtrooms… .'

But the show was considered controversial before it even opened.

UK director Thomas de Mallet Burgess is regarded in New Zealand as unruly Brit himself, .

He was hired in 2019 by the state-sponsored Opera New Zealand company to give it new energy, and became hooked himself on the media's obsession with the Nolans.

Speaking to the publication, the director said he became 'uncomfortable' with how the New Zealand public treated the family, especially on social media. 

Posts on Facebook, he says, 'reached fever pitch and some of those comments we actually use in the show itself.

They uncovered a layer of hatred, racism that became deeply uncomfortable.' 

One such post featured in the opera reads 'p**s off to your trailer trash park'.

While The Unruly Tourists opened to mostly good reviews last night, Mallet Burgess's decision to commission the opera triggered several resignations from the company's board members, including Witi Ihimaera, the nation's first Maori novelist.

At the time, he cited his unease over where the company was heading.