Peter Grimes: a 'spine-chilling' operatic experience
Melly Still's 'magnificent' staging of Benjamin Britten's stormiest work

Clouds are gathering over Welsh National Opera (WNO), where funding cuts threaten the future of its larger productions, said Richard Morrison in The Times. The case for keeping them going is well made by WNO's terrific new staging of "Peter Grimes": it's a reminder that if you want a "full-blooded" operatic experience, then "you need the clout of a proper orchestra and chorus". In Melly Still's atmospheric staging, the "razor- sharp playing and spine-chilling singing" of the company's threatened orchestra and chorus bring Benjamin Britten's "still startlingly atmospheric 1945 score" wonderfully to life.
"Peter Grimes" is the tragic story of a lonely, alienated fisherman in a small town on the Suffolk coast, who is responsible for the death of one young apprentice and then for another. Still updates the story from around 1810 to a "callous, tacky 1980s community", and creates a setting that is "symbolic, surreal and stylised": an upturned fishing boat hangs ominously over a largely bare stage.
Her production, said Rian Evans in The Guardian, "brilliantly captures the tortured guilt, small-minded bitching and flashpoints of volatility" among the townsfolk. The tenor Nicky Spence, debuting in the title role, makes a sympathetic Grimes; and the various locals ranged against him are "all equally vividly drawn and sung". Their "mob mentality, baying for blood, has the seething force of a wild and cruel sea".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
To my taste, there is too much "fussy quasi-choreographic action" during the sea interludes within Britten's score, said Nicholas Kenyon in The Daily Telegraph. Overall, though, this is a "magnificent show delivered in difficult circumstances". The singing and orchestral playing, conducted by Tomáš Hanus, are superb. Spence's portrayal of Grimes is "inspired", presenting him as a "burly, wide-eyed innocent who gleams with delight at the prospect of fishing". WNO may be "in choppy financial waters", but this excellent staging of Britten's stormiest work "makes a compelling case for keeping it afloat".
Mayflower Theatre, Southampton on 30 April, then touring until 7 June; wno.org
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Trump’s budget bill will increase the deficit. Does it matter?
Today's Big Question Analysts worry a 'tipping point' is coming
-
Film reviews: The Phoenician Scheme, Bring Her Back, and Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
Feature A despised mogul seeks a fresh triumph, orphaned siblings land with a nightmare foster mother, and a Jane fan finds herself in a love triangle
-
Music reviews: Tune-Yards and PinkPantheress
Feature "Better Dreaming" and "Fancy That"
-
Film reviews: The Phoenician Scheme, Bring Her Back, and Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
Feature A despised mogul seeks a fresh triumph, orphaned siblings land with a nightmare foster mother, and a Jane fan finds herself in a love triangle
-
Music reviews: Tune-Yards and PinkPantheress
Feature "Better Dreaming" and "Fancy That"
-
Art review: Jeffrey Gibson: The Space in Which to Place Me
Feature The Broad, Los Angeles, through Sept. 28
-
Bryan Burrough's 6 favorite books about Old West gunfighters
Feature The Texas-raised author recommends works by T.J. Stiles, John Boessenecker, and more
-
Book reviews: 'Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference' and 'Is a River Alive?'
Feature A rallying cry for 'moral ambition' and the interwoven relationship between humans and rivers
-
A city of culture in the high Andes
The Week Recommends Cuenca is a must-visit for those keen to see the 'real Ecuador'
-
Green goddess salad recipe
The Week Recommends Avocado can be the creamy star of the show in this fresh, sharp salad
-
Ancient India: living traditions – 'ethereal and sensual' exhibition
The Week Recommends Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are explored in show that remains 'remarkably compact'