Benjamin Britten and Montagu Slater's Peter Grimes

<p> ‘Who can turn skies back and begin again?’</p><p>-Peter</p><p>This book contends that <i>Peter Grimes</i>, widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential operas of the 20th century,<i> </i>is also one of the British theatre’s finest ‘lost’ plays. Seeking to liberate Britten and Slater’s work from the blinkered traditions of theatre and opera criticism, Sam Kinchin-Smith poses two questions:</p><ul> <p> </p> <li>If an opera was created like a play, and can be staged as a play, is it a play?</li> <p> </p> <li>If a portion of its success and influence is the product of this newly identified theatrical engine, is it then a great play?</li> </ul><p>The answers involve Wagner and W.G. Sebald, George Crabbe and Complicité,<i> Akenfield </i>and <i>Twin Peaks</i>. </p><p>Challenging long-established narratives of post-war theatre history, this book makes a compelling case for why practitioners and scholars of performance ought to pay more attention to Britten and Slater’s achievement – a milestone of unconventional English modernism – and perhaps to other operatic masterpieces too.</p> 1. Grimes on the Beach 2. Opera as Theatre: Why Peter Grimes is a Play 3. The Suffolk Renaissance: Why Peter Grimes is a Great Play