Ballet
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland | The Royal Ballet
Saturday 28 September – Friday 1 November
Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland burst onto the stage in 2011 in an explosion of colour, stage magic and inventive, sophisticated choreography. Joby Talbot’s score combines contemporary soundworlds with sweeping melodies that gesture to ballet scores of the 19th century. Bob Crowley’s wildly imaginative, eye-popping designs draw on everything from puppetry to projections to make Wonderland wonderfully real. The result shows The Royal Ballet at its best, bringing together world-class dance with enchanting family entertainment and ingenious music and design.
Debuts this Season include Viola Pantuso, Ella Newton Severgnini, and Meaghan Grace Hinkis as Alice.
Encounters: Four Contemporary Ballets | The Royal Ballet
Tuesday 22 October – Saturday 16 November
Explore human emotion through movement with bold contemporary works. Kyle Abraham’s The Weathering and Crystal Pite’s The Statement return to The Royal Ballet, alongside new works from Pam Tanowitz and Royal Ballet Choreographic Residency Joseph Toonga.
Legacy | The Royal Ballet
Monday 29 – Wednesday 31 October
Royal Ballet Principal Joseph Sissens, in collaboration with Royal Ballet Director Kevin O’Hare, presents Legacy, a series of events dedicated to Black and Brown ballet talent and honouring the artistry, brilliance and the profound contributions they have made to the dance world. Following the footsteps of Joseph Toonga who led the Company’s Black History Month celebrations in 2023, Sissens invites Black and Brown dancers and choreographers from around the world in this special event designed to champion and celebrate Black and Brown ballet artists.
MADDADDAM | The Royal Ballet
Thursday 14 November – Saturday 30 November
Wayne McGregor brings Margaret Atwood’s monumental trilogy of novels (Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam) to the stage. Themes of extinction and invention, hubris and humanity, love and loss, are spliced together with aspects of Atwood’s non-fiction writings and activist voice in this exhilarating exploration of life beyond societal collapse.
This visually stunning three-act ballet with a new score from Max Richter reunites creative collaborators from McGregor’s landmark 2015 ballet Woolf Works in a new work for our times.
Cinderella | The Royal Ballet
Tuesday 3 December – Thursday 16 January
This enchanting ballet by The Royal Ballet’s Founding Choreographer Frederick Ashton is a theatrical experience for all the family this Christmas. With a creative team from across the West End coming together with Ashton’s original choreography and Prokofiev’s exquisite score, this reworking of the famous rags-to-riches story proves a compelling showcase of the Company at its finest.
Debuts in this run of performances include Anna Rose O’Sullivan and Mayara Magri as Cinderella, and Cesar Corrales, Marcelino Sambé, Joseph Sissens, and Calvin Richardson in the role of The Prince.
Opera
Eugene Onegin | The Royal Opera
Tuesday 24 September – Monday 14 October
American director Ted Huffman (4.48: Psychosis) makes his much-anticipated debut for the Royal Opera House Main Stage with a new production that blurs the boundaries between memory, longing and desire. Gordon Bintner stars in the title role, alongside Kristina Mkhitaryan’s Tatyana, Liparit Avetisyan’s Lensky and Avery Amereau making her Royal Opera debut as Olga. Henrik Nánási conducts, drawing out the many, and often conflicting, emotions at the heart of Tchaikovsky’s most popular opera.
Trouble in Tahiti + A Quiet Place | The Royal Opera
Thursday 10 October – Thursday 24 October
With catchy tunes and show-stopping numbers, Leonard Bernstein’s musical theatre credentials shine through in Trouble in Tahiti. A Quiet Place picks up the story 30 years later and departs from this style in a radical, daring way. Music from both operas features in the 2023 film about the composer, Maestro. The Royal Ballet & Opera’s Director of Opera Oliver Mears brings Leonard Bernstein’s rarely performed operas to the Royal Opera House for the first time in a new production with a small ensemble arrangement, ideally suited to the Linbury Theatre’s intimate space. Conductor Nicholas Chalmers makes his debut with The Royal Opera in both works, which star Henry Neill and Wallis Giunta – also debuting – in Trouble in Tahiti, and Grant Doyle, Henry Neill and Rowan Pierce in A Quiet Place.
The Tales of Hoffmann | The Royal Opera
Thursday 7 November – Sunday 1 December
Olivier award-winning director Damiano Michieletto (Carmen, Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci) returns to The Royal Opera for a new production of Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. Conductor Antonello Manacorda, with whom Michieletto previously collaborated on The Royal Opera’s 2023 new production of Carmen, leads Juan Diego Flórez and Leonardo Caimi, who share the role of the poet E.T.A. Hoffmann. Alex Esposito performs as the Four Villains, Julie Boulianne as Nicklausse and Ermonela Jaho, Olga Pudova and Marina Costa-Jackson as Hoffmann’s unforgettable trio of lovers.
The Sound Voice Project
Thursday 14 November – Wednesday 20 November
What does it mean to have a voice? In this emotional digital work, performers living with voice loss tell their stories, joining forces with opera singers and cutting-edge digital voices. Expect a radically different kind of opera experience in this powerful 25-minute installation, designed for the Linbury Theatre. Unfolding across three projection screens, and combining music, documentary and immersive sound design, The Sound Voice Project explodes the idea of what opera can be. The Sound Voice Project is the Winner of the FEDORA Digital Prize 2023 with the support of Kearney.
For the first time, audiences are encouraged to add their own voice to the installation to explore the meaning of voice and identity. More information will be available on the Royal Ballet and Opera’s social media.
