Manon Lescaut

Manon Lescaut is one of the most contradictory opera heroines of all time: is she guided by love, or is she driven by her desire for material wealth and social advancement? The protagonist of the scandalous 18th-century French novel of the same name appears in Giacomo Puccini’s masterpiece as passionate, full of expressiveness, and yet torn. On her way to a convent, she runs away with the student Des Grieux, only to then be set up with the wealthy Geronte – just to steal from him and run off once more with her young lover. Manon loses control: convicted of fraud, she has no choice but to take the bull by the horns and ultimately face death. Matthew Wild stages Puccini’s stirring drama, set on the precipice between love and calculation, with stunning visual impact, and explores the motivations behind Manon Lescaut’s actions.