Ben is Benjamin Britten, the famed composer of Peter Grimes and Billy Budd. Imo is Imogen Holst, daughter of Gustav Holst, music teacher, composer and musical assistant.
Mark Ravenhill explores their relationship and contrasting personalities and writes about the pain of creativity and the need for art. The action takes place in 1952 in Aldeburgh during nine months of composition.
The Royal Opera House commissioned Benjamin Britten to write an opera to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. He and his librettist William Plomer based Gloriana on Lytton Strachey’s Elizabeth and Essex A Tragic History. The old Queen, in her declining years, had a tempestuous relationship with Robert Devereux, thirty-four years her junior.
The public and the critics gave the royal gala premiere a lukewarm reception, finding the subject matter totally inappropriate for the occasion. The audience, it must be said, was largely made up of people who wouldn’t normally be going to the opera.
Ravenhill had initially written the play for BBC Radio in 2013. He turned it into a stage play for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2024. Erica Whyman’s skilful production is now revived. Samuel Barnett and Victoria Yates repeat their excellent performances on a tiny revolving stage dominated by a piano. The in-the-round intimacy of the Orange Tree Theatre suits them well.
Britten, who had the habit of hurting those closest to him, treats Holst badly, verbally and financially. His fury can be very cruel. The intensity and complexity of their relationship is palpable. You wait for her to walk out on him, but she needs him as much as he needs her.
Barnett is all uptight and full of spite. Yeates gives a wonderfully warm and bubbling display of passion and resilience. She also unexpectedly dances a galliard. Together the actors ensure a powerful two-hander drama, full of humour and heartbreak, which holds the attention completely.
Ben and Imo can also be watched online any time between 7.30pm BST on 20 May 2025 and 11.59pm BST on 23 May 2025. You can do so by following this link.
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