Manon Lescaut is a devastating depiction of a woman wrestling with her desire for love on her own terms, and the rigid double standards imposed on her by society. The opera was a breakthrough hit for its composer, Giacomo Puccini, and is packed with memorable music and heartbreaking drama.
Jude Christian, fresh from a critically acclaimed Titus Andronicus at London’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, brings incisive direction and a sharp, poetic new translation to her radical new production, while ETO Music Director Gerry Cornelius conducts.
Their sound and virtuosity did the composer proud
Bachtrack
The orchestra under Gerry Cornelius caught the way Puccini's immortal score flips on a sixpence from tenderness to uproarious energy
The Telegraph
Jenny Stafford sings gleamingly as Manon and Gareth Dafydd Morris brings a burnished tenor to Des Grieux
The Guardian
Artists
Jude Christian
Director & LibrettistGerry Cornelius
ConductorCharlotte Henery
DesignerBen Ormerod
Lighting DesignerMichael Papadopoulos
Conductor (10, 18, 23 & 25 May)Nicholas Bosworth
RépétiteurMegan Rarity
Costume Supervisor
Jenny Stafford
ManonGareth Dafydd Morris
Des GrieuxAidan Edwards
LescautEdward Hawkins
GeronteBrenton Spiteri
EdmondoCicely Hé
Singer & EnsembleDavid Horton
Dance Master & EnsembleAmy J Payne
Naval CaptainPhil Wilcox
Ensemble & Sergeant, Lescaut (Cover), Innkeeper (Cover)Edward Jowle
Ensemble & Innkeeper, Sergeant (Cover)Julia Mariko
Lamplighter & EnsembleRachel Speirs
EnsembleShafali Jalota
EnsembleJudy Louie Brown
EnsembleMorgana Warren-Jones
EnsembleJack Dolan
EnsembleSandeep Gurrapadi
EnsembleMasimba Ushe
EnsemblePhilippa Boyle
Manon (Cover)Dominic J. Walsh
Des Grieux (Cover)Trevor Eliot Bowes
Geronte (Cover)