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Performance

VenueLondon Coliseum
TownWest End
CountyGreater London
From3rd December 2005
To17th December 2005
WhenDec 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 17
PricesFrom £10.00. To £84.00.
London Coliseum (V376)
Current/Future Listings
Listings Archive

Billy Budd

Billy Budd

Work:: Billy Budd (S1877)

Britten's operas often focus on the way particular worlds deal with an outsider. The outsider in Billy Budd is a young man, press-ganged into naval service on the HMS Idomitable around 1797. His story is told in an opera-length flashback by the ship's captain, Edward Fairfax Vere, who is racked by guilt over Billy's fate. Billy's optimism, good-heartedness and trusting nature wins over all but the most venal of the downtrodden crew. He's keen for promotion, but his charisma and beauty cause the evil master-at-arms, John Claggart (who resembles Iago in Shakespeare's Othello), to plot his destruction. Billy's fatal flaw is that, under pressure, he suffers from a crippling stutter. When Claggart falsely accuses him of fomenting mutiny, in front of a sceptical Vere, Billy cannot find the words to defend himself and strikes Claggart dead. At the subsequent court-martial, Vere must follow the letter of the Articles of War and Billy is condemned to death. Typically, just before his execution, Billy cries out in praise of Vere. Now a very old man, Vere concludes that Billy's blessing has, in fact, saved him.
Author Britten

Production:: (T1992441350)

New Production. Running time 2 hours 50 minutes.
Corporate Sponsor Sky
Corporate Sponsor Artsworld
Producer Welsh National Opera
Director Neil Armfield
Conductor Andrew Litton
Design Brian Thomson
Costume Carl Friedrich Oberle
Lighting Nigel Levings
Performer Simon Keenlyside (Billy Budd)
Performer John Tomlinson (Claggart)
Performer Timothy Robinson (Captain Vere)
Performer Ashley Holland (Mr Redburn)
Performer Pavlo Hunka (Mr Flint)
Performer Brindley Sherratt (Lieutenant Ratcliffe)
Performer Adrian Thompson (Red Whiskers)
Performer Toby Stafford-Allen (Donald)
Performer Gwynne Howell (Dansker)
Performer James Edwards (Novice)
Performer Richard Coxon (Squeak)
Performer Nicholas Folwell (Bosun)
Performer Andrew Rees (Maintop)
Performer William Berger (The Novice's Friend)

Listing:: L01506298311




Production details

New Production. Running time 2 hours 50 minutes.

Reviews

No UKTW or User reviews available.
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