London Premiere!

An artist at war with the world, time and himself. This is the story of Monet at his most fragile. Carmel Owen's dramatic musical has been in development since 2022, drawing directly from the letters, articles and diaries of Monet and his contemporaries. Now, it makes its London premiere at Charing Cross Theatre!

What's The Story?

Paris, 1916. As war closes in on France, Claude Monet is under pressure to complete his government commission: The Water Lilies. The work will go on to define his legacy, but in the present moment, it represents something far more urgent - survival. Food, fuel, wine, cigarettes: all scarce in wartime, all dependent on his ability to keep painting. When a creative block takes hold, Monet fears not only for his art but for his livelihood.

Isolated in his studio at Giverny, Monet searches for answers. As the world fractures around him, he retreats into memory, and we are carried back to the cafs, studios, and salons of late 19th-century Paris. These memories clash with the present, revealing an artist wrestling with creation in a world loaded with chaos and conflict - a world that feels eerily familiar today.