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Of One Blood
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May 2026 | ||||||
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Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su |
Opera in two acts (2026)
In English. With surtitles in German and English. New Production.
Commissioned by the Bavarian State Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, State Opera South Australia and Garsington Opera
Co-production with The Santa Fe Opera
recommended for age 14 and older
The two closely related powerful women, whose graves now lie right beside each other in London’s Westminster Abbey, were “Of One Blood”, so of the same blood. Both were of course as conceivably far apart as possible during their lives. Elizabeth I ruled for almost half a century as Queen of England and Ireland, while Mary Stuart reigned over Scotland for a quarter of a century. A bitter power struggle between the Protestant hegemony and the Catholic opposition and ultimately the pressure of parliament forced the English Queen to have Mary Stuart executed.
It is all related not only by countless history books and Friedrich Schiller’s play – it is also told by Brett Dean’s new opera, which will celebrate its world premiere at the Bayerische Staatsoper. Heather Betts found what she needed for the libretto in letters of the two queens and other 16th century sources. In her composition she condenses the spiralling claims to power, intrigues, violence and aristocratic influence, peaking over several decades, into a captivating dramaturgy of situations as the welcome structure for Brett Dean’s music. This offers sound surfaces of an immensely dynamic bandwidth, in which extremes are exhausted, whereby unconventional playing styles are also applied. Director Claus Guth will focus on the ambivalent relationship of the two women with one another and thus examine how the more than four-hundred-year-old conflict is continued to this day and is told anew again and again. Iconic settings are brought to us here in an interplay from an historical, analytically-distanced viewpoint and emotional emphasis.
Program and cast
Music: Brett Dean
Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski
Director: Claus Guth
Stage Designer: Etienne Pluss
Costume Designer: Ursula Kudrna
Lighting: Michael Bauer
Choreographer: Sommer Ulrickson
Dramaturge: Lukas LeipfingerYvonne Gebauer
Queen Elizabeth: Johanni van Oostrum
Mary Stuart: Vera-Lotte Boecker
Female Courtier I: Seonwoo Lee
Female Courtier II: Mirjam Mesak
Female Courtier III: Lotte Betts-Dean
Female Courtier IV: Natalie Lewis
Female Courtier V / Jane Kennedy: Rose Naggar-Tremblay
Male Courtier I / Lord Darnley: Liam Bonthrone
Male Courtier II: Joel Williams
Male Courtier III / David Rizzio: Andrew Hamilton
Male Courtier IV: Thomas Mole
Male Courtier V / Excecutioner: Martin Snell
Solo-Cembalo: Mahan Esfahani
Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Chorus of the Bayerische Staatsoper
National Theatre Munich
The National Theatre Munich (German: Nationaltheater München) is an opera house in Max-Joseph-Platz in Munich, Germany. It is the home of the Bavarian State Opera and the Bayerisches Staatsballett(Bavarian State Ballet).
The Bavarian State Opera also performs in the Prinzregententheater, which opened in 1901 and, like the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, is built to Richard Wagner's specifications, and in the Cuvilliés Theatre at the Residenz, constructed in 1751–1753 and described by Thierry Beauvert as "a Rococo gem".
The Nationaltheater is very easy to get to both by car and by MVV public transportation.
By MVV public transportation
S-Bahn: S 1 - 8 Marienplatz
U-Bahn: U 3, 6 Marienplatz, U 3 - 6 Odeonsplatz
Bus: 52, 131 Marienplatz, 100 Odeonsplatz
Straßenbahn: 19 Nationaltheater
On the day of the performance, holders of regular tickets are entitled to use public transport provided by the Münchner Verkehrsverbund (MVV). This service starts at 3 pm respectively three hours before the performance commences and ends with the closing hour of the MVV.
By Car
Take the Altstadt-Ring to Maximilianstraße.
Parking garage Max-Joseph-Platz: open Monday to Sunday from 6:00 A.M. to 2:00 A.M.
You can take advantage of the special theatre parking fee of Euro 10,- from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 A.M. by presenting your admission tickets.
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