If you have not read Ian McEwan’s esteemed novel by the same name or seen the award winning movie, you may want to read the synopsis of this ballet carefully before you experience the loveliness that the Joffrey has wrought. The plot is somewhat complex with multiple important characters, and the ending has a twisted surprise which could be interpreted as beautiful or horrible depending on your worldview.
Atonement is an interesting narrative to adapt to a full length (2 hours and 18 minutes) story ballet, what with its English country house setting in between the wars then during the war then long after. The story is an epic sweeping one that encompasses passions, class, how the innocent errors of youth can ruin lives, the perspective that age lends, and how artists keep trying to tell stories that have inherent truth without sticking to the facts. So much to contemplate! But what will keep audiences absolutely enthralled is the dancing: the artistry is truly sublime. I run out of superlatives trying to portray just how well these dancers fill out this story.
Director/Choreographer and co-librettist Cathy Marston starts with a gorgeous sweeping use of space and an almost liquid way of partnering that can mean anything from play to lust to physical violence, and then utilizes a fascinating vocabulary of foot and sometimes arm gestures that are quirky and highly emotive. When the protagonist plants a foot forward it states an absolute resolve. And grabbing a foot or an ankle of another dancer is often a primary way of connecting. The dancing in this ballet is impeccable and filled with moving details so that the audience is swept along in the tide of emotions in this family tragedy.
The score by Laura Rossi is perfect darkening season music for this tragic plot. The music as the curtain rises could be kicking off a murder mystery which in an abstract way this might be. The use of metallic sounds for the war was particularly powerful and I sensed this score could stand on its own as a musical performance. Scott Speck's musical direction of the Lyric Opera Orchestra gave great range and dynamic pacing to the evening. Bregje Van Balen’s costume design managed to elicit each period and be as arresting as art in and of itself, as was Michael Levine’s stage design which brought us from English countryside to Dunkirk with the most minimalist of curtains, leaving vast amounts of space for the inspired choreography.
Yuni Kanazawa as Briony and Amanda Assucena as Cecilia, the sisters who will be torn apart by Briony's error, manage to portray childlike innocence in the first act that matures into strong dedicated womanhood. Alberto Valasquez is a virile Robbie, able to embody the wrongly accused without rancor or bitterness. John Dole as the entitled Paul Marshall is arrogant. It was a real treat to see the ineffable Victoria Jaiani as the old Briony facing her younger self and her mistakes in a dramatic performance.
No spoilers here: go see how this story plays out and revel in the magnificent dancing. Atonement is only onstage at the Lyric Opera House 20 N. Wacker Drive, Thursday through Sunday until October 27th, 2024. For tickets and information go to
Photo by Cheryl Mann
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