A Mirrored Monet – The Musical

Paris, 1916. The painter Claude Monet struggles to complete the commission that will define his legacy: The Water Lilies—a project on which his survival depends, with food and essential supplies at stake as the First World War encroaches. Plagued by creative block, he retreats into memory, revisiting his early artist days, his complex but passionate relationship with his muse, Camille Doncieux, and his friendships with his contemporaries, Renoir and Bazille.

Inspired by letters and diaries from Monet and his peers, A Mirrored Monet immerses audiences in the cafés, studios, and salons of Belle Époque Paris, with music and projections bringing the era vividly to life.

With many of us having visited Monet’s house and gardens on our previous short breaks to Paris, and with some going this May, I thought this new show, at a wonderful ‘new to us’ intimate space, the Charing Cross Theatre, might be of intrigue. 

This dramatic new musical by composer/lyricist/dramatist Carmel Owen stars Jeff Shankley (Starlight Express, Cats) as Monet, Dean John-Wilson (Your Lie in April: The Musical, The King and I) as Young Monet.