Linbury theatre, London
Oliver Mears’s production emphasises the underlying outrage at the centre of Benjamin Britten’s 1946 opera
A co-production between the Royal Opera and Britten Pears Arts, Oliver Mears’s new production of Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia was first seen at Snape Maltings last month, before transferring to the Linbury for its London run. It’s a disquieting, uncompromising piece of theatre, though whether Mears succeeds in resolving the dichotomies at the work’s centre is debatable.
Written in 1946, the opera to some extent reflects on postwar uncertainties and trauma. Britten and his librettist Ronald Duncan pivot between past and present, framing a narrative of ancient pagan violation with a Christian apologia that offers faith as consolation for the senseless brutality that’s been witnessed. Despite the power and beauty of the score, many have seen the resulting amalgam as dramatically unwieldy and ideologically incoherent.
The Rape of Lucretia is at Linbury theatre, London, until 22 November.
