English Touring Opera: Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini displays outstanding talent but is a little too modern

Manon Lescaut is the dramatic story of a woman torn between love and luxury. The opera was a breakthrough hit for its young composer in 1893. Puccini’s music is wonderful and the small orchestra, conducted by ETO Music Director Gerry Cornelius, does it justice.

The central couple are outstanding: Jenny Stafford’s soprano is impressive as is Gareth Dafydd’s highly accomplished tenor. Their singing soars but their acting is choreographed to convey no chemistry between the couple. The other soloists portray their characters really well. The multi-talented chorus is of the high standard we have come to expect from ETO; as a newcomer to opera said in the interval “they can sing, act and do everything”.

The staging is bizarre to the extent that at several points Puccini’s richly expressive music does not fit with the unreal action on the stage. Points of interpretation which could have highlighted the twists in the plot become obsessively dominant. Manon is eventually sentenced to die of thirst in a desert but this does not justify setting the first act at the bottom of a swimming pool and the water coolers at every turn. This production goes overboard with the theme of water to an extent which obscures the suffering of the central character. Similarly she is imprisoned in the most unflattering dress throughout the opera and only her tights give way to the concluding desert conditions.

At some points the English translation by Jude Christian is too modern to fit the plot. This was certainly a memorable production, the audience’s chuntering echoed even in the car park.