Powerful Totalitarian Nightmare
English National Opera revives Annilese Miskimmon's production of The Handmaid's Tale
Rachel Nicholls (centre) as “Aunt” Lydia, flanked by Rhian Lois (left) as Ofwarren and Kate Linsday (right) as Offred Picture by Zoe Martin
Piling on the evidence of what resembles a collective nervous breakdown, English National Opera has revived its two-year-old production of Poul Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
More than two decades ago ENO gave the UK premiere of this prescient but musically unrewarding opera in a fine production by Phyllida Lloyd. It was never revived. Why a new production was thought necessary in 2022 is anyone’s guess, and the case for bringing it back into the repertoire so soon is even more questionable. Thanks to a management and board who have form for throwing good money after bad, ENO’s very existence is under threat. The company is increasingly strapped for cash, and morale has been torpedoed by Arts Council England’s hare-brained diktat that it must move to Manchester by 2029.
Linsday as Offred, James Cresswell as The Commander Picture by Zoe Martin
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