Alessandra Ferri returns to the Royal Opera House for the UK premiere of Martha Clarke’s Chéri following her critically acclaimed performance in The Royal Ballet’s hugely successful Woolf Works choreographed by Wayne McGregor

August 2015

ALESSANDRA FERRI, FRANCESCA ANNIS

AND HERMAN CORNEJO STAR IN

THE UK PREMIERE OF CHERI

Chéri
Tuesday 29 September – Sunday 4 October

Linbury Studio Theatre

^{Alessandra Ferri returns to the Royal Opera House for the UK premiere of Martha Clarke’s Chéri following her critically acclaimed performance in The Royal Ballet’s hugely successful Woolf Works choreographed by Wayne McGregor.}

^{Chéri also features American Ballet Theatre Principal Herman Cornejo in the title role, whilst BAFTA winning British actress Francesca Annis will make her Royal Opera House debut in the acting role of Madame Peloux. Based on the French writer Colette‘s classic novels Chéri (1920) and Le Fin de Chéri (1926), Chéri tells the tragic tale of retired courtesan Léa (Ferri) and her scandalous love affair with Chéri (Cornejo), a man half her age.}

^{Acclaimed American choreographer Martha Clarke‘s (The Garden of Earthly Delights, Vienna: Lusthaus) Chéri incorporates dance, theatre and music to create a work that explores sensuality, love, loss and society’s unshakeable preoccupation with youth and age.}

^{Chéri’s 2013 New York premiere marked Ferri’s return to the stage after retiring from dance in 2007, and Clarke specially tailored the two roles to the unique acting abilities of Ferri and Cornejo. Their pas de deux and solos are interspersed with four monologues performed by Annis and adapted by award-winning American playwright Tina Howe from Colette’s texts.}

^{Chéri is set to piano excerpts performed by pianist Sarah Rothenberg who will be on stage throughout. Rothenberg assembled her score from composers contemporary with Colette including Debussy, Ravel and Poulenc.}

Chéri
Tuesday 29 September – Sunday 4 October

29, 30 September and 1, 2 October at 7:45pm

3 October at 2:30pm and 7.45pm

4 October at 4pm

Box Office:

0207 304 4000

www.roh.org.uk

Royal Opera House, London WC2E 9DD

Tickets £12.50 – £40

Director Martha Clarke

Choreography Martha Clarke

Text Tina Howe

Set and costume design David Zinn

Lighting Christopher Akerlind

Sound design Arthur Solari and Samuel Crawford

a

CASTING

Léa Alessandra Ferri
Chéri Herman Cornejo
Madame Peloux Francesca Annis*

Pianist Sarah Rothenberg

*Role Debut

YouTube trailer for Chéri’s 2013 world premiere: youtube.com/watch?v=TpUrnqs_b6g

^{Royal Opera House – Linbury Studio Dance Programme}

^{The Linbury Studio Theatre is programmed by The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera as part of the Royal Opera House Season. The Royal Ballet’s Studio Programme aims to build coherence across dance performances on the main stage, in the Linbury and other spaces. The Studio Programme also includes a variety of choreographic projects involving both young and established choreographers and dancers from inside the Company and from the wider dance community.}