English Touring Opera’s beautifully sung Manon Lescaut is colourful, bonkers and glorious

This production of Puccini’s early opera Manon Lescaut is spectacular. The music is uplifting, the singing is powerful, the performances are impressive. Jenny Stafford as Manon goes from a modest and bashful young girl to a woman wearied of the world. The staging is imaginative. At first glance, the interpretation is bizarre. It’s such a mixture it’s like serving shepherd’s pie with custard, but on reflection it makes sense.

The opera, first performed in 1893 was inspired by the 1731 novel of The Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut, by Antoine Francois Prevost. The original story, set in Paris, focuses on des Grieux’s love for Manon, a girl with few choices who ends up as a prostitute. Prevost’s book centres on the unhappiness of des Grieux but Puccini’s opera tells the tale from Manon’s perspective. He said she was certain to capture audiences’ hearts.

In this production, sung in English in a modern setting, directed by Jude Christian, the extravagantly colourful costumes give a contrasting carnival atmosphere to a sad story. Manon has a body clinging, ruched party dress and a blue wig. The chorus is dressed for fun, a chic red dress with a matching berry, a bright yellow fluffy jacket, chimney hats on the men in bright red and bright green, an eighteenth century courtier with a grey wig – and strangest of all, des Guieux’s wealthy rival for Manon’s affections, Geronte, played and sung expertly by Edward Hawkins, is dressed as a fop in a pale pink suit with an enormous, matching wide brimmed hat like a woman off to the races at Ascot.

The show opens with a young woman having the entire contents of a water-cooler flagon emptied over her head, apparently to her delight. The opening set has the stage ringed with water coolers and this is a motif throughout. It seems bonkers until you realise this is a symbol for Manon’s tragic death. At the end of the show, she dies of thirst.

When we meet Manon, (sung stupendously by Jenny Stafford) she is a young woman about to be sent against her will by her father to a convent. At this point she meets des Grieux (masterfully sung by Gareth Dafydd Morris) and they instantly fall in love. He is penniless so Manon decides to become the mistress of someone who is better able to provide for her.

Next we see her reconciled to a life of trivial luxury, (symbolised by her fixation on her hair and her nails). As for the blue wig, when asked: “How’s my hair? her brother (again, well played and sung by Aidan Edwards) replies resignedly: It’s a choice.” Des Grieux finds her and they decide to run away together. He wants to leave immediately but she stays behind to steal some of the rich man’s wealth, saying cynically she has earned it. She is caught and sent to prison.

She escapes when her brother and des Grieux rescue her. The lovers go on the run, but only for her to die of thirst in his arms.

Fascinating to watch, great to listen to, English Touring Opera presents Manon Lescaut at Cambridge Arts Theatre again on Friday, May 3 and Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress on Thursday, May 2 and Saturday, May 4.