WIREDGOV

This September, audiences will have the opportunity to experience a unique performance of Benjamin Britten's powerful masterpiece, Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh Beach. The screening will be shown in more than 70 cinemas across the UK from Thursday 5 September.

Filmed at an outdoor realisation of Peter Grimes during Aldeburgh Festival, Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh Beach is a fantastic cinematic interpretation of the most successful opera of post-war Britain. The performance placed the audience directly into the opera's setting of the beach, creating an unmatched atmosphere.

Composed by Benjamin Britten and based on George Crabbe's 1810 poem The Borough, Peter Grimes captures the North Sea in all its moods and is now inextricably linked with the Aldeburgh that was home to Crabbe in the late eighteenth century and subsequently Britten in the twentieth.

Directed by Tim Albery, the critically acclaimed outdoor realisation of Peter Grimes drew the audience into the performance, placing them directly on the beach and watching as dusk faded over the sea. As darkness fell, the audience became completely enveloped by the world of Peter Grimes and the local community that branded him a murderer and hunted him down.

The film, which is directed for cinema by Margaret Williams, is just one of a wide range of activities put in place to celebrate the Britten Centenary - many of which are being supported by public money invested through Arts Council England.

Aldeburgh Music was chosen by the Arts Council to lead and co-ordinate a partnership of national and local organisations during 2013 in order to celebrate the centenary of Benjamin Britten's birth. A £1 million Commissioned grant was awarded to Aldeburgh Music by Arts Council England to enable them to lead on the celebrations.

The work, which has and continues to explore Britten's musical and cultural legacy, is also designed to inspire contemporary artists, attract new audiences and reinforce England's importance as a major international cultural destination.

Hedley Swain, Area Director, South East, Arts Council England, said: 'Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh Beach is a brilliant example of how new generations of audiences can access and engage with iconic pieces of work that make up the fabric of our cultural history. It is projects such as this that highlight why we made the Commissioned grant investment as it has the ability to really achieve great art for everyone.'

Jonathan Reekie, Chief Executive, Aldeburgh Music, said: 'We are very grateful to Arts Council England for helping us bring this great English opera to cinema screens and reach a much wider audience. Part of Britten's genius lay in his ability to root his art in his local community and we hope this film version of our site-specific staging conveys this vividly to cinema-goers across the country.'

A full list of cinemas where the performance will take place can be found here:

http://www.brittenaldeburgh.co.uk/grimes/film-peter-grimes-on-aldeburgh-beach