Conall Morrison's production for English National Opera transplants La Traviata to Dublin in the second half of the 19th century. The synopsis in the programme is very specific, almost giving postcodes for each location: we are told that Violetta's apartment is in Merrion Square, while her rural retreat with Alfredo in the second is a gate lodge to a country house in County Wicklow, and so on. Francis O'Connor's designs evoke these settings with lots of detail - the revellers at Violetta's party quaff stout from the bottle rather than champagne - while the programme is stuffed full of quotes from Irish writers.

But none of this illuminates Verdi's Parisian drama in any meaningful way. What Morrison does add - a clash of religions, Protestant against Catholic - is purely gratuitous: there's no hint of that in the original libretto. There's no hint here, either, of any dramatic tension; the time spent getting the period details right might have been used more profitably in establishing characters, and putting flesh and blood on stage rather than cardboard cut-outs. When Emma Bell's Violetta expires in the final moments, there isn't a moist eye in the house, because no one cares.

Bell's singing is sometimes meltingly beautiful, especially in its quieter, reflective moments, but she never suggests who this Violetta really is. Dwayne Jones's take-it-or-leave-it Alfredo (standing in for an unwell Rhys Meirion) and James Westman's awkward, out-of-focus Germont can only hint at personalities that more purposeful direction might have made credible.

This staging is flagged as part of ENO's renewal of its core repertory. Every permanent opera company needs a Traviata that will stand the test of time, and can assert the qualities of one of Verdi's most popular works in repeated revivals. What ENO has got instead is partial and dramatically inert.

· In rep until November 16. Box office: 0870 145 0200.