Britten’s Grimes on the Beach, Funny Wilde: U.K. Theater

The pebbly strand on the east coast of England is wide, cold, and whipped by salt spray. A less auspicious operatic venue could hardly be imagined.

Even so, the 66th Aldeburgh Festival has created a once-in-a-lifetime event to celebrate the centenary of its founder Benjamin Britten. They’ve staged his opera “Peter Grimes” outdoors on Aldeburgh beach, the very location where much of the action takes place, and near where the composer himself lived.