THE STORY OF BILLY BUDD, SAILOR

AFTER BENJAMIN BRITTEN (1913-1976)

WORLD PREMIERE

NEW PRODUCTION OF THE FESTIVAL D’AIX-EN-PROVENCE
A COPRODUCTION WITH LES THÉÂTRES - GRAND THÉÂTRE DE PROVENCE

WITH THE SUPPORT OF AMMODO, KAROLINA BLABERG STIFTUNG, MUTUELLES D’ASSURANCES ET GROUPE AXA, JEAN-FRANÇOIS DUBOS, CERCLE INCISES

OperaIncises

CHAMBER OPERA FROM OLIVER LEITH AND TED HUFFMAN
BASED ON BILLY BUDD FROM BENJAMIN BRITTEN TWO ACTS VERSION FROM 1964 (BOOSEY & HAWKES, LONDON)
LIBRETTO BY EDWARD MORGAN FOSTER AND ERIC CROZIER
ADAPTED FROM HERMAN MELVILLE’S SHORT STORY BILLY BUDD, SAILOR, (AN INSIDE NARRATIVE), 1924 (POSTHUMOUS)

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Stage direction, adaptation, costumes and accessories
Ted Huffman*
Musical adaptation
Oliver Leith*
Conductor
Finnegan Downie Dear
Lighting design
Bertrand Couderc
Conductor assistant
Richard Gowers
Staging, costume and accessories collaborator
Sonoko Kamimura
Costume and accessories assistant
Sara Bartesaghi Gallo
Movements Collaborator
Pim Veulings
Billy Budd
Ian Rucker
John Claggart, Dansker
Joshua Bloom
Edward Fairfax Vere, Squeak
Christopher Sokolowski
Novice, Maintop
Hugo Brady**
Mr. Redburn, First Mate
Noam Heinz**
Mr. Flint, Second Mate
Thomas Chenhall**
Stage musicians
Finnegan Downie Dear, Richard Gowers, Siwan Rhys (claviers), George Barton (percussion)
*Former artists of the Académie
**Singers from the 2025 Voice Residency

About

Told over and over again from port to port, the story of Billy Budd is an enigma: how is it possible that this handsome sailor, admired by all, should have ended up a criminal, hanging from the yardarm of his ship? Like a mythical scroll that elicits endless comment, Melville’s unfinished novella has produced a fascinating fog of meaning. In the story itself, the mists of war invading the North Sea obscure to the point of obliteration the very ideas of law and society in the West; and they also mingle fatally with the nebula of homosexual desire which in turn destroys and saves the protagonists – that poor sample of humanity lost on the high seas. For Ted Huffman and Oliver Leith, condensing Britten’s opera by reinterpreting its narrative and sound content means re-focusing their attention on the essential: reconnecting with its folk roots, with the eternal sailor’s ballad; questioning the queer fog that floats down from Melville and Britten to us, turning into a political and metaphysical meditation on what constitutes humanity, on what cements or destroys a community.

LISTEN TO THE PRELUDE

Performances

Saturday5July 2025
Théâtre du Jeu de Paume5:00 PM
Monday7July 2025
Théâtre du Jeu de Paume5:00 PM
Tuesday8July 2025
Théâtre du Jeu de Paume5:00 PM
Thursday10July 2025
Théâtre du Jeu de Paume3:00 PM
Thursday10July 2025
Théâtre du Jeu de Paume8:00 PM
Catégorie 1
€96.00
Catégorie 2
€78.00
Catégorie 3
€60.00
Catégorie 4
€32.00

Youth prices: €28, €23, €18, €10

Performance available with ticket packages

Sung in English with French and English surtitles
1 hour and 55 minutes without interval

GETTING TO THE FESTIVAL
— by public transport or by bike > further information
— by carpooling > look for or offer a ride

FIND ACCOMMODATION

With the kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes, Britten Pears Foundation, Durand and Faber.

Media

THE STORY OF BILLY BUDD, SAILOR

THE STORY OF BILLY BUDD, SAILOR after Britten — World premiere
Adaptation and stage direction: Ted Huffman — Musical adaptation: Oliver Leith
2025 Festival d’Aix-en-Provence © Jean-Louis Fernandez

PRESS

A powerful and gripping mini-version of “Billy Budd”
— El País

The adaption of Benjamin Britten’s opera by Ted Huffman and Oliver Leith is a divine apparition tucked within the 77th edition of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
— Le Temps

This sensitive and sincere adaption is staged with equal parts humility and inventiveness
— Télérama

The cast of young singers moves the audience and creates a sensation at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
— Les Échos

This Story of Billy Budd, Sailor is a work of great power, and it received a well-deserved ovation at the curtain call
— Forum Opéra