Ben and Imo

The Orange Tree bags the London transfer of Mark Ravenhill’s new play, an RSC production directed by Erica Whyman that transfers down from Stratford-upon-Avon with its original cast of Samuel Barnett and Victoria Yeates. ‘Ben’ is Benjamin Britten, the great composer who is here under terrible pressure to come up with an opera to commemorate the coronation of Elizabeth II in just nine month. ‘Imo’ is Imogen Holst, the multi-instrumentalist daughter of Gustav – she comes to Ben’s aid with the opera, but can their friendship survive the tempestuous creative process?