Manifest Destiny 2011 is a British opera composed by Keith Burstein with a libretto by Burstein and Dic Edwards. It is a revision of Burstein and Edwards' previous 2003 opera Manifest Destiny and maintains its predecessor's subject matter of Islamic suicide bombers, the ramifications of both the Middle Eastern conflict and the war on terror.
Set in the present day or "near-future", the complex plot centres on a harrowing journey through the war on terror by the Palestinian political activists Leila and Mohammed and Leila's lover Daniel (a Jewish composer). At one time potential suicide bombers, Leila and Mohammed renounce violence and attempt to resolve their lives and grievances in a more peaceful manner, but are caught up in the brutal realpolitik of war and the imperial machinations of the American state. The action takes place variously in London, Palestine, Afghanistan, the White House in Washington, D.C., and Camp X-Ray (Guantanamo), and contains both realistic and metaphysical content.
To date, the opera has been staged in a run of nine performances in the quartet version, at the King's Head Theatre in London in September 2011, and in a version for small orchestra has been given a one-off performance at St John's Church, Waterloo in November 2025.
Subject matter
Set in the present day or "near-future", the complex plot centres on a harrowing journey through the war on terror by the Palestinian poet Leila who, along with her friend Mohammed, is radicalised and drawn into a suicide bomber cell, leaving her lover (the Jewish composer Daniel) in a state of hysterical blindness due to his despair at her loss and at the state of the world. Leila and Mohammed subsequently undergo a profound change of heart, renouncing violence and rejecting their own bombs. However, their attempts to achieve a more peaceful resolution to their lives (in the face of a brutal and cynical war campaign involving the President of the United States of America and her Director of CIA) result in them becoming further, and fatally, entangled in the conflict when Mohammed takes the fatal step of "saving" Leila by turning her over to American forces, leading to her internment and subsequent death in Camp X-Ray. Mohammed retrieves the dead Leila's poetry as a completed libretto, which he brings back to Daniel to set to music (effecting a symbolic reconciliation between Jewish and Palestinian cultures). The two (joined by the goddess Theia) embark on a new mission of hope and harmony.Notes from Manifest Destiny theatre programme from 2005 Edinburgh performances, accessed 18 March 2009"The power of love" – article by Jonathan Lennie, published in Time Out, 8 September 2011
Background and performance history
Following the original productions of Manifest Destiny in 2003 and 2005, Burstein developed plans to stage a revival to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. He approached the London-based opera company OperaUpClose, who were known for their innovative low-budget stagings of classic operas as well as an interest in new or rare works. Working in collaboration with director Valentina Ceschi, Burstein revised the opera for the occasion. He himself provided a new quartet orchestration and additional music and also extensively rewrote the libretto, resulting in a significantly different work, which he retitled Manifest Destiny 2011.
Manifest Destiny 2011 ran for nine performances (including four previews and a press night), opening on 11 September 2011, at the King's Head Theatre, London, and continuing as part of the OperaUpClose repertoire during the same month.
A recording of the earlier performances was screened in a room in the Houses of Parliament on 25 June 2025.
An orchestrated version (for single woodwind, horn and trumpet with strings) was performed at St John's Church, Waterloo on 15 November 2025.
Changes from original Manifest Destiny
The most prominent revisions in Manifest Destiny 2011 were in the libretto, which underwent significant changes. It now drew on fresh developments in contemporary world history including the then-contemporaneous "Arab Spring" and the growing profile of Sarah Palin (who at the time was a potential Presidential candidate). The characters of "Mrs President" and "Director of CIA" kept their original roles and functions but also acquired names – "Hillary" and "Carlos Masueda", with the former being portrayed onstage as a character similar to Sarah Palin and with elements of Hillary Clinton. by Mark Brown, 7 September 2011 Three of the supporting characters from the original opera were removed: the suicide bomber Omah, the Afghanistan-based CIA Man and the Jailer in Guantanamo. The latter two roles and their sung material were conflated into the role of Carlos Masueda.
Within the opera's fictional framework, the notorious "suicide bomb-robing" scene from the original opera was removed entirely. An increased emphasis on metaphysical content was added (including references to Gaia theory) and the goddess Theia appeared as a character in the finale. Burstein remarked that the overall approach of the opera had now shifted to emphasize the concept of the power of love overcoming violence. He has also suggested that Manifest Destiny 2011 is now intended to be the first in a trilogy cycle of operas, which he has referred to at various times as "Revolution X" and "The Flame".
Burstein also wrote new musical material for the revised work – most notably overtures for both acts and a new finale.
Critical response
As had been the case with the original version of the opera, Manifest Destiny 2011 received mixed reviews. While the set design and staging concept was well received and the singers were generally praised for their performances, the music, libretto and plot were greeted with both positive and negative responses.
In classical music web magazine Bachtrack, Katy S. Austin praised the score for its "ravishing harmonies and tense orchestration" and commented "The ensemble – Violin, Viola, Clarinet and Cello –brought out the powerful depths of Keith Burstein's score with the dignity and sensitivity it deserves".
Broadway World wrote "Manifest Destiny 2011 is a powerful and ambitious work"
Archant North London wrote "Manifest Destiny 2011 is a revival and slight reworking of Keith Burstein's operatic hit from the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival."Archant newspaper North London September 2011
For The Good Review Christina Folkard wrote of Manifest Destiny 2011 that "It has been reworked, re-produced and reincarnated into a powerfully raw story of love and politics."
Yet Rupert Christiansen of The Daily Telegraph attacked the music as "gloopy and lachrymose" and "sophomoric" (as well as making a disparaging comparison to the music of Ravel). For Time Out, Hannah Nepil asserted that the score "lacks bite". In London 24, David Ladds hailed the score as "surprisingly pleasant and generally well-played" while in Fringe Review Mark Brown commented that "the songs, whilst pleasant and at times emotional, do suffer from being a bit one note."
Christina Folkard for The Good Review commented there were "some very beautiful moments. There's always a wonderful experience to be had at London's Little Opera House, and I suggest you don't miss Manifest Destiny 2011."
In Time Out, Jonathan Rennie wrote "The music sits between late romanticism and Philip Glass. It is so lyrical"Time Out Jonathan Rennie 8 September 2011 while in The Stage, Graham Rogers criticised the music's "treacly neo-English pastoral style (and) occasional incongruous and mystifying departures into Latin American tango" and its perceived lack of variety, concluding that it would "inevitably pall". In Spoonfed, Naima Khan opined that the music "is unambitious and feels familiar, but paired with this highly political content it's a testament to the potential of the art form", while allowing that the part of Leila was "vocally stunning. Her lines are the most poetic and an example of what opera can do that a straight play can't."
In Culture Wars, Paul Kilbey criticized the score in the context of Burstein's much-publicised stance against the dominance of atonal music, commenting "to tackle this, Burstein writes extremely benign music with lots of major and minor chords. Much like the opera's politics, this idea misses the mark in terms of polemic: 'atonalism' could benefit from a more precise definition than Burstein gives it, and besides, by normal standards, there are plenty of contemporary composers who make heavy and inventive use of tonality. And while Burstein's music remains extreme for just how diatonic it is, this unfortunately doesn't make it interesting or original."
Yet for Bachtrack, Katy S. Austin concluded "There are some very touching moments, [and indeed performances], in Manifest Destiny 2011. It improves as it progresses too, leaving the most spellbinding atmosphere of desperation until the final Act."
Regarding the opera in general, Gary Naylor of West End/Broadway World hailed it as "a powerful and ambitious work... an hour and a half of an intense combination of music and drama that exhausts and rewards in equal measure" and noted that the work "addresses the question of whether art can be more powerful than violence in advancing a political cause, or whether art must always be hitched to violence to find the authority it needs in these troubled times." In The Daily Telegraph Christiansen dismissed the opera as "a hopeless non-starter... The drama is all bleeding-heart pleas for love and understanding... wretchedly dreary and banal."
Yet in contrast Christina Folkard in The Good Review stated that "The libretto is raw, honest and often very uncomfortable, but that was the point."
However, in The Stage Rogers expressed disappointment: "There are many examples of how opera can be a successful forum for challenging thought on complex and highly-charged subject matters such as this but, with its simplistic views and resolutely unchallenging score, Manifest Destiny is not among them. Relatively short by operatic standards, this is still an arduous experience."
The following however appeared in Time Out: "The composer Keith Burstein and librettist Dic Edwards have taken the traditional Romeo and Juliet tragic love story and set it in contemporary war torn Arabia, creating a moving and shocking piece re-evaluating the enduring belief that love conquers all", and further commented that "celebrating the idea of love and how powerful it can be is bold and brave".
In the London24 review, Ladd found fault with the "somewhat one-dimensional characters" and complained of an over-simplistic story, but conceded "if you are willing to look beyond the narrative nonsense, those with an open mind and an appetite for something a little different might find it an enjoyable distraction." In Fringe Review, Brown complained that in spite of the tragic-opera hallmarks of the story, "the plotting is such that it is almost impossible to understand what is going on. The narrative takes massive leaps from plot point to point without giving the audience much indication what might have occurred in between these jumps." However, he conceded that the staging and symbolism did much to compensate for that, and praised the "striking imagery... evocative atmosphere and good performances that save this piece from being an incoherent trudge through clichés from the last decade." and further commented that "Opera Manifest Destiny provides striking imagery, strong performances and a positive message. The effective use of onstage camera projection onto a large screen (also cleverly hiding the quartet) provides a sense of grandeur not usually seen on the meager Kings Head stage, while the flower strewn stage sends out ambiguous messages of life, death and rebirth. Funereal yet hopeful…."