English Cat, The

Opera (‘a story for singers and instrumentalists’) in two acts by Hans Werner Henze (libretto by Edward Bond after Balzac's Peines de coeur d'une chatte anglaise), first produced in Schwetzingen, Germany, on 2 June 1983. All the characters are cats. The story concerns Minette, who must marry Lord Puff. She is seen with Tom, and is taken to divorce court for adultery. Minette is drowned, Tom is stabbed, and ‘the lawyers will make a huge profit’.