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EnglishWhat kinds of ballet and opera works are featured on the Royal Ballet and Opera site?
Updated
The Royal Ballet and Opera site (rbo.org.uk) lists a season of staged works that mixes 18th-century opera, 19th-century grand opera, 20th-century ballet, and contemporary opera adaptation. Each listing pairs a title with a date range, a venue (Main Stage or Linbury Theatre), and a one-line description of its story or theme. If you want to know what a given production is about before booking, that short description is the fastest signal on the page.
The range of works currently listed
The listings span roughly three centuries of repertoire and several genres:
| Work | Dates | Venue | Type | Description on site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manon | 13 Oct – 25 Nov 2026 | Main Stage | Ballet and dance | Kenneth MacMillan's "devastating ballet of decadence and decay – a woman torn between luxury and love" |
| Parsifal | 4 – 17 Oct 2026 | Main Stage | Opera and music | Wagner's "all-consuming final opera comes vividly to life in a new production" |
| Visionaries: Robbins and MacMillan | 9 – 28 Nov 2026 | Main Stage | Ballet and dance | "Revel in the beauty of two 20th-century masterpieces" |
| Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball) | 30 Nov – 18 Dec 2026 | Main Stage | Opera and music | Verdi's "stirring political drama is recast against a surreal, theatrical backdrop" |
| 4.48 Psychosis | 17 – 25 Oct 2026 | Linbury Theatre | Opera and music | "The operatic adaptation of Sarah Kane's explosive and extraordinary play" |
| A Centenary Celebration | 8 – 10 Oct 2026 | Main Stage | Ballet and dance | The Royal Ballet "celebrates the centenary of the School – its illustrious history, luminous present and vibrant future" |
| Don Giovanni | 7 – 15 Oct 2026 | Main Stage | Opera and music | "Mozart's darkest opera returns" |
| Alcina | (dates not shown in listing) | Main Stage | Opera and music | Handel's "magical opera of love, seduction and sorcery returns" |
What this mix tells you
Classic and new sit side by side. Parsifal is billed as a new production of Wagner's final opera, while Don Giovanni and Alcina are returns of existing stagings. So a season here is not purely revival or purely premiere — you can expect both.
The ballet side leans on named choreographers. Manon and the Visionaries programme both credit Kenneth MacMillan, and Visionaries pairs him with Robbins. If you follow a particular choreographer rather than a company, the title line is where that information appears.
The chronological spread is wide. Handel (early 18th century), Mozart (late 18th century), Verdi (19th century), Wagner (19th century), and a contemporary opera adaptation of a 1990s play all appear in the same season. The Linbury Theatre listing for 4.48 Psychosis is the clearest example of the contemporary end.
Every work carries a short thematic description. These are one or two clauses, not synopses — enough to tell you the emotional register ("darkest opera," "decadence and decay," "love, seduction and sorcery") rather than the plot.
How to use the listings
- Scan the title and date range first to see what falls inside your available window.
- Check the venue: Main Stage and Linbury Theatre are different spaces, so the same date range can mean a very different scale of production.
- Read the one-line description to judge whether the subject matter suits you — it is the only interpretive text given per work in the listing.
- Follow "More info" on an individual work for the full production page.
One practical note: the listing repeats some entries (Manon, Parsifal, Visionaries, Un ballo in maschera, and 4.48 Psychosis each appear twice in the source excerpt), so when scanning, treat repeated titles as the same production rather than separate events.