We think of a dystopia as an imaginary place in the future. When Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985, she said everything in the novel had already happened: Iran, China, Romania. Today she might have said Afghanistan, where musicians have been forced to parade with their instruments tied around their necks. Or Palm Beach, where Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking rituals resemble treatment meted out to the young women in Atwood’s Gilead. Or, in any respect, daily, hourly, events in Ukraine.
The Danish composer Poul Ruders (b1949) understood the novel’s resonance early. His 2000 opera, with a libretto by Paul Bentley, was given its UK premiere at English National Opera in 2003. Streamlined (to a degree) and reworked, it is now back at the London Coliseum, the directorial debut choice of Annilese Miskimmon, ENO’s artistic director. Joana Carneiro, assured and precise, conducts an exemplary performance. Stylish, unfussy designs are by Annemarie Woods, with Paule Constable’s lighting.
