Paradise Lost

John Milton’s Paradise Lost: A story of sin, sex and sedition.


Milton stripped of the academic dust and brought roaring into the present.

In this electrifying one-man performance, Royal Opera Chorus Director William Spaulding takes on the extraordinary density, rhythm and power of John Milton’s epic poem, transforming its famously complex language into something immediate, visceral and alive. Through musicality, physicality and theatrical intensity, the words become an experience rather than a text to decode.

At its centre is Satan: charismatic, rebellious, seductive and spectacularly self-confident. Milton’s depiction was ground-breaking – a villain who could command the attention of the reader and at times, seem more compelling than the heroes opposing him. Centuries later, that fascination with the politics of power feels remarkably current.

This bold new staging is directed by Olivier Award-winning director Keith Warner, whose internationally acclaimed career spans more than 150 opera, theatre and musical productions across twenty countries, including major houses from London and Vienna to Bayreuth, Tokyo and San Francisco.

Spaulding brings his formidable musical authority to the performance, drawing on his distinguished career as a conductor of choruses and orchestras across Europe. Together, Spaulding and Warner turn one of English literature’s most intimidating masterpieces into an urgent piece of live theatre.

Beneath the poetry and theology, Paradise Lost is a story of rebellion and the power of knowledge. Of temptation and the dangerous allure of defiance. Sin. Sex. Sedition. Milton’s great epic has never felt more immediate – or more powerful.