Bastarda
The life and times of queen Elizabeth I
Based on Donizetti’s Tudor operas

The Hardest Thing To Govern Is The Heart.

A bastard child who ascended the English throne, a 'Virgin Queen' who had numerous lovers, a muse, poet and musician: Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603) continues to capture the imagination. With Bastarda, La Monnaie is now reviving the life and times of this enigmatic monarch in all their glory.

For two operatic evenings, you experience the intriguing, larger-than-life story of Elizabeth and her inner child through the musical highlights of Gaetano Donizetti's Tudor tetralogy (Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, Roberto Devereux and Elisabetta al Castello di Kenilworth). For two operatic evenings, the La Monnaie Theatre is transformed into the Tudor court of its 16th-century heyday with breathtaking costumes and historically informed props, with dance and video, with  grand entrances and tragic exits. A unique total spectacle, which our workshops have been working on for years.