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The Handmaid's Tale Tickets

London Coliseum

Margaret Atwood’s feminist tale becomes a rousing opera, back at the English National Opera after an acclaimed season in 2022.

The Handmaid’s Tale Opera Tickets: A Feminist Classic

Following an acclaimed UK premiere in 2022, The Handmaid’s Tale opera returns to the London Coliseum for a second season this year. This powerful show, based on Margaret Atwood’s iconic story of survival and oppression, brings the world of Gilead to visceral life and is a fantastic choice if you want to book opera tickets in London.

The Handmaid’s Tale Synopsis

In Gilead, women have no rights. Their freedom has been ripped away, their fertility commodified and their voices silenced. Those in power use their bodies to produce offspring, and if they resist, exile and hard labour await. Handmaid Offred faces terror every day, but soon she will join a force that defies the regime and fights for independence.

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a seminal feminist text that projects into a dystopian future that could all too terrifyingly become reality. It has been adapted for stage and screen, most recently in HBO’s series starring Elisabeth Moss, and a sequel, The Testaments, was co-winner of the Booker Prize for Fiction in 2019.

About The Handmaid’s Tale Opera

Composer Poul Ruders draws on medieval chants and gospel music in a compelling score that, combined with Paul Bentley’s minimalist libretto, throws the brutal discord of The Handmaid’s Tale into sharp relief. This astounding opera premiered back in 1998, and like the text it is based on, has lost none of its sharp, gutting power in the intervening years.

The English National Opera’s “magnificent and unforgettable” (The Arts Desk) production is directed by the company’s Artistic Director Annilese Miskimmon and conducted by Joana Carneiro, a specialist in contemporary music.

The cast includes mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey as Offred, Susan Bickley as her mother, soprano Rachel Nicholls as Aunt Lydia, James Creswell as The Commander and John Findon as Luke.

Book Tickets for The Handmaid’s Tale at London Coliseum Today

Control, authority and rebellion burst from the stage in “one of the most powerful operas of the century” (Financial Times). Book The Handmaid’s Tale tickets to experience this urgent tale performed by the English National Opera.

Sorry this show closed 15 February 2024, we recommend these similar productions.

Rigoletto
La Boheme
Performance dates:
15 Feb 2024 - 15 Feb 2024
Running time:
2 hours and 45 minutes including an interval.
Age recommendation:
Best for age 15+
Audience Notes:
This production features sexual violence, suicide, death, coercive and controlling behaviour and strong language.

The Handmaid's Tale Reviews

4.0
38 Reviews
  • 5 Stars32%
  • 4 Stars47%
  • 3 Stars16%
  • 2 Stars3%
  • 1 Stars3%

User Reviews

This is my second time at the opera and I wanted to see a show that I already knew the story of. The Handmaid's Tale was done spectacularly, I was really engaged in the story: I laughed, I cried, I got scared. I went through all of the emotions and l Read more

Performance date: 10 April 2022
Verified

This was a modern opera with minimal staging but enjoyable. It is based on the book rather than the TV series.

Performance date: 15 February 2024
Verified

My first opera was a hit. Brilliant interpretation of the original book. Was grateful for the subtitles!

Performance date: 15 February 2024
1/13
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