Manon Lescaut

The controversial opera returns!

Following a controversial premiere in 2014, Jonathan Kent's visually outrageous production of Puccini's first opera sees its first revival at the Royal Opera House arrives this November. Having divided the critics by placing the action in modern times, this adaptation of Abbe Prevost's "L'Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut" chronicles the fortune of a good-time girl turned tragic heroine, amidst the seedy background of a Northern European red-light district.

The story was originally based on a courtesan, Manon, who chooses a life of wealth and comfort over love, only to be forced into prostitution; this modern adaptation finds contemporary resonance using the background of society's hypocrisy surrounding female sexuality, and remains true to the story of a woman suffering a severe retribution for minor transgressions, where her only escape from exploitation is death.

Designs by Paul Brown create a harsh environment riven through with societal hypocrisy, in which Manon is trapped by those who will exploit her and from which the only escape can be death.