UNT Opera Theatre presents Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia.

Eric Laine as Male Chorus

April 22, 7:30 PM

April 24, 3:00 PM

One of the great opera composers of the twentieth century, Benjamin Britten was also a pacifist, a conscientious objector, and a committed Christian. This classical story of the rape of the faithful wife Lucretia by the warrior prince Tarquinius premiered in 1946 shortly after the horrors of World War II. In Britten’s treatment it becomes an exploration of moral bonds broken by horrific violence, of spiritual connection shattered, and of guilt by association: the narrators of the story, a male and female ‘chorus’, start out as commentators, but end up feeling implicated, and become a voice of Christian conscience for the crime that has been committed. And so this modern masterpiece takes the actions of individuals and translates them onto moral, social and spiritual planes. The Rape of Lucretia is a modern classic, and treats its difficult subject matter with exquisite sensitivity; and, at a time when the power dynamics and moralities of relationships between men and women are being re-examined, it is a timely and important operatic event.

After each performance audience members are invited to remain for a talkback session with cast members and a panel to discuss issues raised by the opera.