Britten's Albert Herring | Scottish Opera

Britten

Albert Herring

★★★★ 'a score buzzing with textural virtuosity and humorous innuendo' - The Scotsman
★★★★ 'some of the best music in the entire Britten canon' - The Guardian
★★★★ 'A strikingly modern flavour' - The Stage
★★★★ 'the finest performance I've seen in an opera all year' - The Times

One of the 20th century’s most beloved operatic comedies, Albert Herring is Britten's loose adaptation of a Guy de Maupassant short story, full of quirky yet loveable characters and 1990s nostalgia.

The market town of Loxford is just as busy with gossip as it is with trade. Lady Billows organises the May Day festival. When her housekeeper tells her no young lady has a spotless reputation fit for the May Queen, she becomes alarmed. The answer? Crown Albert Herring, a shy mother’s boy, May King instead! Albert has not done anything wrong – indeed, he has hardly done anything at all. Suddenly in the spotlight, Albert is caught between old-guard traditions and his fellow youngsters’ freewheeling fun. Both parties are quick to judge the odd one out.

In this chamber production created for the Lammermuir Festival, award-winning director Daisy Evans (The Telephone 2020) and designer Kat Heath bring a colourful eye to this story of finding one’s own path in life despite — or perhaps because of — misadventures along the way.

Albert Herring is brought to life by conductor William Cole and a cast of top UK singers alongside Scottish Opera’s 2024/25 Emerging Artists. The cast is led by Glen Cunningham (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2022) as Albert, with Susan Bullock (Candide 2022) as Lady Billows and Jamie MacDougall (Marx in London! 2024) as the Mayor, Mr Upfold.

Kindly supported by The Scottish Opera Endowment Trust
Part of Scottish Opera's 2024/25 Season

Show Details

Running time:
Approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes including a 20-minute interval

Language:
Sung in English with English supertitles

Ticket price:
From £22.75 to £65.75 – prices vary by venue

Concessions:
£15 tickets for Under 26s >>
Concessions vary by venue

Watch

Albert Herring 2024 | Trailer

On stage

Glen Cunningham (Albert Herring), Chloe Harris (Nancy) and Ross Cumming (Sid) in Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Mihaela Bodlovic.

Cliona Cassidy (Harry), Audrey Tsang (Cis) and Sarah Power (Emmie) in Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Mihaela Bodlovic.

Susan Bullock as Lady Billows in Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Mihaela Bodlovic.

The cast of Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Mihaela Bodlovic.

Glen Cunningham (Albert Herring) in Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Mihaela Bodlovic.

Susan Bullock (Lady Billows) and Glen Cunningham (Albert Herring) in Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Mihaela Bodlovic.

Chloe Harris (Nancy) and Ross Cumming (Sid) in Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Mihaela Bodlovic.

The cast of Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Mihaela Bodlovic.

In rehearsals

(L To R) Chloe Harris (Nancy), Jane Monari (Florence Pike), and Ross Cumming (Sid) in rehearsals for Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Julie Howden.

(L To R) Kira Kaplan (Miss Wordsworth), Cliona Cassidy (Harry) and Sarah Power (Emmie) in rehearsals for Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Julie Howden.

Director Daisy Evans with Glen Cunningham (Albert Herring) and the cast of Albert Herring in rehearsals. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Julie Howden.

Glen Cunningham (Albert Herring) and Kira Kaplan (Miss Wordsworth) in rehearsals for Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Julie Howden.

Glen Cunningham (Albert Herring) in rehearsals for Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Julie Howden.

Glen Cunningham (Albert Herring), Kira Kaplan (Miss Wordsworth) and Susan Bullock (Lady Billows) in rehearsals for Albert Herring. Credit Julie Howden.

Kira Kaplan (Miss Wordsworth) and Director Daisy Evans in rehearsals for Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Julie Howden.

Kira Kaplan (Miss Wordsworth) in rehearsals for Albert Herring. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Julie Howden.

Susan Bullock (Lady Billows), Francis Church (Mr. Gedge, The Vicar) and Jamie Macdougall (Mr. Upfold, The Mayor) in rehearsals for Albert Herring. Credit Julie Howden.

The cast of Albert Herring in rehearsals. Scottish Opera 2024. Credit Julie Howden.

Read more about Audio Description & Touch Tours

Audio Describers 2016 Credit Tim Morozzo 1 2

Audio Description & Touch Tours

Designed for those with a visual impairment, our audio-described performances feature a live commentary describing what’s happening on stage without compromising the music. Touch Tours also available.

Venue information

Find out more about box office opening hours, travel information and access within the building in all venues.

Cast & Creatives

Albert Herring
Glen Cunningham

Lady Billows
Susan Bullock

Florence Pike
Jane Monari

Miss Wordsworth
Kira Kaplan*
*2024/25 Emerging Artist

Mr Gedge, the Vicar
Francis Church

Mr. Upfold, the Mayor
Jamie MacDougall

PC Budd
Edward Jowle*
*2024/25 Emerging Artist

Sid
Ross Cumming*
*2024/25 Emerging Artist

Nancy
Chloe Harris*
*2024/25 Emerging Artist

Mrs Herring
Christine Sjölander

The Orchestra of Scottish Opera

Conductor
William Cole

Director
Daisy Evans

Designer
Kat Heath

Lighting Designer
Jake Wiltshire

Librettist
Eric Crozier

Listen to the music

One of the joys of performing Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring is the composer's extraordinary ability in balancing orchestration perfectly with atmosphere, comedy and satire.

Listen to the two excerpts of Albert Herring's score below, played by The Orchestra of Scottish Opera. The soloists heard in the excerpt of Act II, Scene 2 - 'Albert! Fast asleep, poor kid.' are Eilidh Gillespie and Kate McDermott, on alto flute and bass clarinet respectively.

Audio-described Performances & Touch Tours

Mention opera and most people think of singing and music – but this is only part of the overall experience. What about scenery, costumes, lighting, direction and choreography?

For those living with sight loss, our audio description service provides a live commentary describing the action on stage without compromising the music. As part of the experience, a recorded introduction to the opera is available in advance and there is a live audio introduction before the start of the performance.

Patrons with a visual impairment can also book onto a free touch tour – an opportunity to go backstage and become more familiar with the set, scenery, props and costumes.

Please book in advance for audio-described performances and touch tours by calling the venue box offices:

Theatre Royal Glasgow:
22 October 2024, 7.15pm - touch tour at 6pm

Book now

Festival Theatre Edinburgh:
13 November 2024, 7.15pm - touch tour at 6pm

Book now

Listen to an example of a recorded introduction>>
Explore other audio-described performances and services>>