Ben and Imo review – Britten and Holst’s collaboration slides into cruelty

Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
Mark Ravenhill’s reimagining of the duo’s work on Gloriana exposes imbalances in the partnership but ultimately is a tragedy of thwarted ambition

In 1952, Benjamin Britten was commissioned to write a “national opera” for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in just nine months. He enlisted Imogen Holst – Gustav’s daughter – as his musical assistant and they worked on Gloriana, which garnered a less than glorious critical reception.

Mark Ravenhill’s reimagining of their odd, unequal relationship has been excavated from its first life as a radio play in 2013. Ben (Samuel Barnett) and Imo (Victoria Yeates) convene in a room in Aldeburgh, dominated by a grand piano (set design by Soutra Gilmour), and the play at first seems to be about creative collaboration, hinting at how female authorship is erased out of the canon.