Photo Journal: John Doyle Directs Peter Grimes at the Met

By Matt Blank
February 29, 2008

The Metropolitan Opera debuted a new staging of Benjamin Britten's tragic work Peter Grimes Feb. 28.


The well-known piece marks the Met debut of director John Doyle, a 2006 Tony Award winner for his minimalist staging of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. Joining him from the theatre world are set designer Scott Pask and costume designer Ann Hould-Ward, both of whom also possess Tony Awards. Grimes features lighting design by Peter Mumford and is conducted by Donald Runnicles.

Peter Grimes is described as "a probing exploration of the nature of guilt and judgment, featuring an intriguing outsider trapped within a closed society."

Anthony Dean Griffey sings the title role, a man "under investigation for unthinkable transgressions," setting off a chain of events that implicates an entire fishing village. He describes the character as someone with "no social skills, [who] doesn’t know how to express himself."

"It’s the extreme with Peter Grimes," he continues. "It’s either his outbursts of anger or he becomes very introverted and doesn’t talk. There’s very little in between."

Griffey is joined onstage by American soprano Patricia Racette in the role of Ellen Orford, with English baritone Anthony Michaels-Moore as Balstrode. Also featured in the cast are Felicity Palmer, Jill Grove, Leah Partridge, Erin Morley, Greg Fedderly, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, John Del Carlo and Dean Peterson.

This production runs through March 24 and will be broadcast in movie theatres and homes across the nation on March 15 as part of "Metropolitan Opera: Live in High Definition."

For more information or tickets visit www.metopera.org

Read more about this production in Harvey Sachs' feature article, Peter and the Wolves.

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All photos by Ken Howard for The Metropolitan Opera.

Scott Pask's set for Peter Grimes

Anthony Dean Griffey in the title role

Patricia Racette as Ellen Orford

Logan William Erickson as the boy and Anthony Dean Griffey as Peter Grimes		Patricia Racette as Ellen Orford with Logan William Erickson as the boy

Anthony Dean Griffey as Peter Grimes and Anthony Michaels-Moore as Captain Balstrode

Felicity Palmer as Mrs. Sedley and Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Ned Keene

Anthony Dean Griffey in a scene with the villagers