To mark the occasion of the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Benjamin Britten is commissioned to write an opera in nine months about Elizabeth I. The disheartened composer enlists the help of Imogen Holst, daughter of Gustav and an accomplished musician in her own right. Her can-do attitude works to balance the often-maddening Britten, and what first begins as an arrangement of musical assistance, turns into a friendship that sees Gloriana to its premiere.
Originally written to mark the centenary of Britten’s birth and performed on BBC Radio 3 in 2013, Mark Ravenhill’s Ben and Imo is a powerful play that explores the brilliant yet often turbulent working relationship of two of the 20th Century’s greatest musical minds.