The Australian Ballet: Manon

A devastating love story of desire and greed.

Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s adaptation of Abbé Prévost’s 1731 novel, Manon is a tragic romance unlike any other in ballet.  

From the echelons of high society 18th-century Paris to the gritty streets of New Orleans, Manon tells a story of a young girl desperate to rise above her lowly origins, seduced by wealth and the power it affords her. Forced to choose between her true love, the penniless Des Grieux, or a life of lavish splendour, Manon is ultimately undone by her desires.  

One of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s most celebrated works, Manon premiered in 1974 at the Royal Opera House in London and has been in The Australian Ballet’s repertoire since 1994. It is a powerful classical ballet that exposes the immense class divide, where the rich and powerful exploit the desperate and destitute.

Set to Jules Massenet’s haunting score as arranged by Martin Yates, Manon is a vivid production about escaping poverty and the price of true love.