After an attempt to expose the crimes of the corrupt prison governor Pizarro, Florestan finds himself unjustly imprisoned and in mortal danger. Amid rumours of his demise only one person, his wife Leonore, suspects the truth. Disguised as ‘Fidelio’, a male prison guard, she embarks on a valiant attempt to rescue her husband from certain death.

A deeply moving story of love and faith, Fidelio is a tale of personal sacrifice, heroism and human aspirations for justice. With its themes around incarceration and illegal detainment, Beethoven’s only opera has resonated with audiences across borders for decades, and still feels eerily relevant today.

For Powder Her Face at the Royal Danish Opera, director Orpha Phelan and designer Madeleine Boyd won Denmark’s prestigious Reumert Award for Best Opera Production 2016. They join forces again for this new production of Fidelio, asking what could drive one to deny freedom from another – and what imprisonment and longing mean to all of us.