RoyalBallet: Manon (Cert TBC)

190 mins, 2 intervals

In the seedy underbelly of 18th-century Paris, money is king. A native of this hedonistic underworld, Manon is caught between twin desires when she falls in love with devoted student Des Grieux, who offers the possibility of an honourable life. Manon’s inner turmoil and struggle for survival lie at the devastating heart of Kenneth MacMillan’s 1974 adaptation. His nuanced understanding of human psychology makes for an unflinching look into the moral degradation of Manon’s Paris, while all its decadence and decay are brought to life through Jules Massenet’s score and Nicholas Georgiadis’s designs.