Kenneth MacMillan's 1974 ballet of the notorious novel of lost innocence was greeted with critical disapproval but remains an audience favourite and was filmed during it's 2018 revival.
MacMillan wanted a new production to showcase both his stars and the Royal Ballet ensemble and the tragedy of Manon proved ideal.
Convent girl Manon meets student des Grieux at an inn and - obviously - fall in love immediately. They flee to Paris as a rich man, Monsieur GM, approaches Manon's brother Lescaut offering money for her...
Despite her affection, Manon is enticed by Monsieur's riches. This sets in motion a chain of events that lead to the high life but also transportation and death.
Any difficulty in emotionally engaging with the relentlessly shallow characters is offset by MacMillan's breathtaking choreograpy.
Sarah Lamb is sparkling but remote as Manon and Vadim Muntagirov matches her intensity in the couple's wonderful three pas de deux.
Shelf or charity shop? Def shelf. Although the characters are never sympathetic, MANON is a wonderful tribute to the genius of MacMillan. The supporting cast include classy performances from Itziar Mendizabel as Lescaut's salty mistress, Gary Avis exudes menace as Monsieur, and James Hay shines as the lead beggar in the opening scene. Sadly Ryoichi Hirano is fairly one-note as the conniving Lescaut, his 'drunk' dancing in the brothel scene has been done better. What is remarkable is that although Jules Massinet wrote an opera based on MANON, MacMillan chose to use a whole new score based around other music by the composer; it was done so skilfully by Leighton Lucas that you would never guess it was not a proper score.
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