Royal Ballet: Manon

Synopsis

Torn between her desire for a life of splendour and riches and her devotion to her true love, Des Grieux, the feckless and capricious Manon pays the ultimate price… This adaptation of Abbé Prévost’s novel embodies Kenneth MacMillan at his best, his acute insight into human psychology and his mastery of narrative choreography finding full expression in the impassioned duets of the central couple, visceral and urgent in their desire. The heroine’s struggle to escape poverty makes this one of the most dramatic and devastating of ballets, emphasized by Nicholas Georgiadis’ evocative designs that reflect the juxtaposition between Manon’s impoverished origins and the lavish world she longs to inhabit.