© 2026 The Couch Critic
Status
Released
Release
1984
Runtime
2h 26m
Gloriana, Op. 53, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on Lytton Strachey's 1928 Elizabeth and Essex: A Tragic History It was written to mark the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
19 Cast Members
Sarah Walker
Queen Elizabeth I
Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex
Jean Rigby
Frances, Countess of Essex
Neil Howlett
Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy
Elizabeth Vaughan
Penelope, Lady Rich
Alan Opie
Sir Robert Cecil
Richard van Allen
Sir Walter Raleigh
Malcolm Donnelly
Henry Cuffe
Lynda Russell
Lady-in-Waiting
Norman Bailey
A Blind Ballad Singer
Dennis Wicks
The Recorder of Norwich
Shelagh Squires
A Housewife
Alan Woodrow
Master of Ceremonies
Robert Huguenin
A Morris Dancer
Leigh Maurice
The City Crier
Adrian Martin
The Spirit of the Masque
Ian Stewart
Time
Amanda Maxwell
Concord
Chorus of English National Opera
Chorus
