OPERA NORTH CELEBRATE BENJAMIN BRITTEN’S CENTENARY YEAR WITH PHYLLIDA LLOYD AT THE HELM

Award winning opera company, Opera North, will this season celebrate the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Britten, the most successful British opera composer of the 20th century, with three stunning Britten productions A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Death in Venice and Phyllida Lloyd’s multi-award winning production, Peter Grimes. Opera North’s Festival of Britton season appears at Newcastle Theatre Royal 12 – 16 November. Peter Grimes, first seen in 2006 and was described by The Sunday Times as ‘a collective company triumph, the operatic event of the year.’ It’s a production that has won every award in the book and ranks as a peak of Opera North’s achievement. Award winning director Phyllida Lloyd CBE will return to direct the revival of her 2006 masterpiece after spending the last five years directing Meryl Streep blockbusters Mamma Mia! and The Iron Lady.  Lloyd, whose stage credits include the West End and Broadway hit, Mary Stuart, also directed the iconic Opera North Britten production, Gloriana and later directed the film adaptation for which she received an International Emmy. Set in a small fishing community on the English coast, Britten’s atmospheric music takes powerful inspiration from the sea, vividly portraying the human drama unfolding around the outsider Peter Grimes. Welsh tenor Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts reprises his searing performance in the title role as the isolated and at times, violent fisherman Peter Grimes. Joining the cast for the first time, Robert Hayward makes his role debut as Captain Balstrode following many previous appearances for Opera North in roles including, Macbeth, Scarpia and Falstaff and most recently Jaroslav Prus in The Makropulos Case which appeared at Theatre Royal in Autumn 2012. Conducting Peter Grimes is the internationally acclaimed Jac van Steen, making his mainstage debut with Opera North, after a number of very well received concerts for the Company. Currently principal guest conductor with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jac has worked with a multitude of renowned musical organisations including the London Sinfonietta and the Royal Scottish Orchestra. The Festival of Britton season at the Theatre Royal also features Martin Duncan’s warm and witty revival of his 2008 production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In this colourful and vibrant opera, Britten creates a mesmerising sound-world for Shakespeare’s great play, where costumes and music are equally sparkling. This ‘sound-world’ will be conducted by Stuart Stratford, recently described by the Financial Times as ‘the most impressive of Opera North’s recent guest conductors’. Completing the celebration of Benjamin Britten is Death in Venice - Britten’s final opera, and also his most personal. Sung in English, this acclaimed production from the legendary Yoshi Oida has toured internationally and now finds itself in the highly accomplished hands of Opera North stalwarts for the first time. Death in Venice features an exotic orchestral score, which will be conducted by Opera North’s highly esteemed Music Director, Richard Farne. In the title role Alan Oke, around who this production was created, will reprise his outstanding incarnation of the ageing writer, von Aschenbach. Richard Mantle, Opera North’s general director, said: “Benjamin Britten is the greatest composer for theatre and opera our country has ever known and one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. In his centenary year we will celebrate the breadth of his work through the breadth of our work. When we stage Death in Venice, we will have performed all of the composer's major stage work, which few opera houses in the world have achieved.” For more information visit http://www.operanorth.co.uk/ . The Opera North Festival of Britton Season appears at Newcastle Theatre Royal from 12 – 16 November: Tue 12 Nov     A Midsummer Night’s Dream             7.00pm Wed 3 Nov      Peter Grimes                                      7.00pm Thu 14 Nov     Death in Venice                                  7.00pm Fri 15 Nov       A Midsummer Night’s Dream             7.00pm Sat 16 Nov      Peter Grimes                                      7.00pm Tickets are available from £15.00 (booking fees apply) and can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 or select your own seat and book online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk