What's On | ETO – The Coronation of Poppea

English Touring Opera The Coronation of Poppea artwork. Green and orange gradient background. A woman wearing a black dress and black shoes floats in the air, reaching up to grasp a large golden crown that that dwarfs her in scale. Her left shoe has fallen off and is falling down out of the image frame. Text on the bottom left side of the image reads: 'Monteverdi. The Coronation of Poppea'. Text at the top right corner of the image reads: 'English Touring Opera. Opera that moves.'

ETO’s The Coronation of Poppea Production Photo: the background is a blue cyclorama, which can be seen through a circular cut-out in a wall, about 7 foot in diameter; Jessica Cale stands in front of the circle in a green silk dress; Amy J Payne stands inside the circle, in a conservative navy jacket and skirt; Keith Pun stands behind the circle and peers in, wearing a reflective jacket and wings, with a light-up halo around his neck.

Photo by Richard Hubert Smith

ETO’s The Coronation of Poppea Production Photo: 6 performers, each dressed in white, black or lime green formal-wear, stand across the stage; behind them, the set consists of a steel monolith, three shallow steps leading to two adjoining walls; one of the walls is metallic and features a circular cut-out, the other is constructed from handing threads; Keith Pun stands on top of one of the walls, as if at a balcony, wearing reflective wings.

Photo by Richard Hubert Smith

ETO’s The Coronation of Poppea Production Photo: Jessica Cale sits on the floor in a lime-green silk dress; one of her hands is caressing the chin of Martha Jones, who is wearing an olive-green velveteen suit and golden circlet and kneeling with her eyes closed.

Photo by Richard Hubert Smith

ETO’s The Coronation of Poppea Production Photo: Kezia Bienek holds a golden olive-leaf circlet towards the camera, and appears to be singing with intensity; she is wearing a simple, formal off-white gown, and her black hair is loose.

Photo by Richard Hubert Smith

ETO’s The Coronation of Poppea Production Photo: Trevor Eliot Bowes, wearing an austere cream suit, stands against a dark background; he is speaking to Sandeep Gurrapadi, who wears a white shirt and holds a cardboard file or notebook.

Photo by Richard Hubert Smith

ETO – The Coronation of Poppea

Monteverdi: The Coronation of Poppea

Show Information

Set at the court of the Emperor Nero as he schemes to replace his wife Octavia with his lover Poppea, Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea has a bleak and violent answer to the question “How far would you go for love?”

With startlingly modern music and characterisation, Monteverdi’s opera was one of the first operatic masterpieces and a fitting showcase for a woman who cut a dash through the patriarchal world of ancient Rome.

Robin Norton-Hale directs this new production, with multi-genre musician and composer Yshani Perinpanayagam as arranger, James Ham as conductor, and a new English translation of the libretto from poet and classicist Helen Eastman. Design comes from the award-winning Basia Bińkowska.

Performed in English with English surtitles.

Pre-show talk: 6.30pm

Join members of the creative team for a pre-show talk as they share insights into this new production of Montiverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea.

Northcott Theatre

Opera

Running time: 180 minutes, no interval

Members Discount, Group Discount (10+), U26 Ticket Offer

This performance contains depictions of suicide and references to violence and sexual activity.