Wilton’s Music Hall presents a new production of Racine’s study of Rome under the tyranny of Nero’s rule.

As a teenage Emperor, Nero presided over the rioting and the burning of Rome aged just 17. Racine’s Britannicus depicts Rome on the brink of disaster, with Nero spinning gradually out of control. The combination of greed, hunger for power and paranoia drives him to make ever more destructive decisions. His mother, Agrippina, and his usurped step-brother Britannicus attempt to stop Nero at the same time as betraying their own ambition and selfish desires.

This production of Britannicus, which plays in the newly reopened Wilton’s Music Hall, is translated by playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker, whose plays include Our Country’s Good and Credible Witness.

At risk of closure, Wilton’s Music Hall recently raised enough public funds to secure the structure of two parts of the building, but £2million is still needed to secure the future of the world’s oldest surviving music hall.