In Summer 2022, I was commissioned by the Royal Opera House to write and direct a short play about the composer Benjamin Britten and the tenor Peter Pears, two remarkable men who shared a 40-year creative and romantic partnership at a time when homosexual relationships were still illegal. The play formed part of the Opera House’s monthly Open Day, which in July 2022 was themed around Pride, and included music by Britten, Schubert and Purcell, alongside a hair-raising motorbike ride!

 

Writer and Director – Jonathan Ainscough

Peter Pears – Elgan Llyr Thomas

Benjamin Britten – Ed Picton-Turbervill

Producer – Tom Floyd (for the Royal Opera House)

 

“…someone’s expecting me back at home, you see, and I don’t want to keep him waiting…”