Opera, Dance and Ballet in London

Sink into the Globe Theatre’s highly anticipated 2026 summer season with this electrifying staging of Shakespeare’s playful, chaotic comedy about spells, transformations, and the fickle nature of love. Four young Athenian lovers, caught in a love quadrangle, flee into an enchanted forest, where they become the victim of a love spell by the mischievous fairies that dwell within it. Dream and reality blur into midsummer madness in the sun-soaked open air of the Globe Theatre, making for an unforgettable and immersive theatrical treat.

Inspired by Lionsgate's worldwide blockbuster franchise, Now You See Me, and fresh off a world tour that dazzled audiences across Australia and Singapore, Now You See Me Live is finally coming to the UK. This international stage illusion spectacular features a world-class magic ensemble from around the world, based on the film's Four Horsemen, who enthrall and amaze audiences with their jaw-dropping arsenal of illusion, magic tricks, spectacle, and storytelling.

Puccini's classic opera returns to the stage with this heartbreaking and heartwarming story of love, friendship, and loss in Paris at Christmastime. Richard Jones bring to life one of the most enduring, popular, and influential operas in the world, filled with beloved characters and a rich, evocative score. A perfect first opera for newcomers and a cherished favourite of long-time opera lovers.

Experience Shakespeare's famous tragedy about star-crossed lovers in a whole new light with this ballet reimagining developed by Rudolf Nureyev in 1977 and revived for its 50th anniversary year. The English National Ballet Philharmonic perform Prokofiev's soaring score live to bring to life the tragic story of doomed lovers Romeo and Juliet and the feuding Montagues and Capulets. With electrifying drama, a gorgeous score, and jaw-dropping choreography, this is an unmissable treat for fans of ballet and Shakespeare alike, and has stood the test of time since it was first created.

This landmark event brings the groundbreaking work of Sol Leon and Paul Lightfoot to new audiences with this Royal Ballet premiere. This mixed programme by the critically acclaimed Spanish/British contemporary choreographic duo presents two parallel performances that explore isolation, relationships, and a love for dance, through a blend of fluid, stirring choreography and stories of yearning and passion.

British choreographer Matthew Bourne's dance production tells the story of a small-town Italian-American community whose lives are changed when a handsome, dangerous stranger walks into their diner. With a passionate, high-energy score by Terry Davies and inspired by Bizet's iconic opera, Carmen, The Car Man will sweep you off your feet and into a sizzling American epic.

King of Tango German Cornejo and his spectacular dance company return to present a night of authentic Argentine tango and a score that celebrates the legacy of the great tango composer Astor Piazzolla. Ten world class dancers and a live orchestra of musicians and singers come together to spin a story of passion, desire, and drama, told through one of the most irresistible dance forms.

Richard Jones's stunning new staging of Vicenzo Bellini's last ever opera will sweep you away into the tragic love story of Elvira, a Puritan, and Arturo, a Royalist, whose wedding day spirals into tragedy in the wake of misunderstandings, madness, and treason, leading to the ultimate test of faith. This emotionally profound and ethereally composed opera stars Lisette Oropesa stars as the devoted Elvira and Francesco Demuro as the courageous Arturo.

The London Palladium's beloved festive tradition returns this Christmas with a brand-new panto retelling of Cinderella: the magical rags to riches fairytale that we all know and love, told with several cheeky, delightful twists. This fabulous, funny, and outrageous retelling stars Julian Clary as the Fairy Godfather, alongside iconic comedy duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders reuniting onstage as the ugly stepsisters. Get ready for a one-of-a-kind festive treat with this sassy panto, filled with spectacular costumes, dazzling special effects, and lots of laughter.

Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s visually stunning and ambitious production of The Sleeping Beauty arrives on the Royal Albert Hall stage for the first time. In this dazzling, bewitching spectacle, witness the classic fairy tale come to life, full of gorgeous sets, costumes, choreography, and a score that will take your breath away.

Laurent Pelly's larger-than-life production returns with Donizetti's heartwarming comic opera about a tomboy raised by an unconventional military family as she searches for her happily ever after. Packed with catchy, military-style tunes, this witty, laugh-out-loud bel canto opera conducted by Yves Abel will sweep you away into a light-hearted adventure in the Tyrolean alps.

A personal and powerful collaboration between composer Philip Glass and performer-director Phelim McDermott (Improbable), Tao of Glass explores life, loss, and the question of where true inspiration comes from. Part concert and part performance, it features ten meditations on life, death, and Taoist wisdom, set to ten brand new pieces of music from Glass. It's presented by McDermott, alongside an ensemble of musicians and puppeteers bringing this beautiful story to life.

Gluck's rarely performed opera, Iphigénie en Tauride, makes its ENO debut in a new staging by Olivier award-winning director Lyndsey Turner. Siblings Iphigenie and Oreste are separated by the bloody legacy of their parents, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. What does fate have in store for these doomed siblings? Find out in this heartbreaking story of a family divided by fate and united by hope, a powerful take on a classic Greek myth, told through a thrilling score and a talented cast of performers.

ENO Artistic Director Annilese Miskimmon reimagines Puccini's timeless opera, exploring the art of resistance and love in the face of political censorship. In a concert hall in a European state overrun by civil war, opera singer Floria Tosca and her lover Cavaradossi are hunted by the sadistic police chief Scarpi. Experience this thrilling opera in a whole new light in this gripping new production that feels urgently relevant to the modern age, featuring some of Puccini's most iconic arias, in a story about the enduring power of love and art to defy tyranny.

Based on the classic 1952 MGM musical comedy starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds, the joyful, witty musical adaptation of Singin' in the Rain returns to the stage, packed with romance, high-energy choreography, and dazzling set design that will immerse you right into the glamorous world of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Set during the transition from silent film to talkies and featuring a silent film actor forced to adapt, a leading lady with a terrible voice, and a chorus girl who dreams of being a serious actress, Singin' in the Rain will have you bobbing your head along to its irresistible soundtrack.

Globe Director of Education Lucy Cuthbertson and Splendid Productions' Kerry Frampton and Ben Hales team up for a brand new original play for the Globe Theatre's magical summer season. Perfect for the whole family, it follows a boy named Cass, who invents a rich imaginary world of adventuring and heroism, inspired by his grandmother's love for Shakespeare. Don't miss this whimsical and heartwarming celebration of the joy of storytelling.

From the great and influential composer Kaija Saariaho comes a powerful but rarely staged opera, Adriana Mater, a harrowing exploration of war, redemption, and motherhood. Left pregnant after an assault by a soldier, Adriana struggles to raise her son to resist the temptations of revenge and break the cycle of violence. In this collaboration between Artistic Director Annilese Miskimmon and Music Director Designate André de Ridder, inspired by war correspondent Amin Maalouf's experiences, witness a moving story that feels urgently relevant to our times.

This dark, unsettling, and Pulitzer-winning opera comes from contemporary Chinese-American composer, performance artist and activist Du Yun and librettist Royce Vavrek. Combining Yun's eclectic and genre-defying musical style with a dynamic, immersive staging, Angel Bones shatters operatic tradition to tell a harrowing story about a struggling couple who find a pair of angels in their garden and abuse their heavenly gifts for their own greed. Witness a powerful exploration of modern slavery and human trafficking through a truly unique opera.

This hilarious pairing of two operettas tell a delightfully chaotic and joyfully absurd story about love and marriage. In The Zoo, a pair of young lovers get engaged, and then in Trial by Fury, we see them going head to head in a courtroom. Filled with wit, romance, and unexpected twists, these rarely performed works come together in tandem to show a rare glimpse at Sullivan's early works. Lovers of Gilbert & Sullivan and newcomers alike will be instantly charmed by the humour, satire, and irresistible sound of this witty double act.

A comic opera in two acts composed by British-Russian Elena Langer, this exuberant black farce is based on Nikolai Erdman's twice-banned 1928 play The Suicide, in which a man's suicide is due to be broadcasted life on television - but what happens when he changes his mind? Darkly funny and clever, it is a satire about our fixation on fame, and the shameless exploitation for profit, entertainment and voyeurism of other people's misery, all which feel deeply relevant to our modern world.

La Traviata is one of the most influential and most performed operas in the world, and Peter Konwitschny's Olivier Award nominated production brings a bold, minimalist take on this classic piece. Witness the heartbreaking love story of Violetta and Alfredo, torn apart by family and duty, forced into an inevitable sacrifice. Startlingly modern and relatable, this production is driven by the characters' emotional truths, set to a score that includes some of Verdi's most recognisable melodies.

Adapted from Lars von Trier's multi-award-winning 1996 film of the same name, Missy Mazzoli's Breaking the Waves follows a married couple navigating a strange new reality in the wake of the husband's debilitating accident. This hauntingly beautiful story, packed with psychological depth, explores the nature of love and a test of faith, set to a hypnotic and utterly unique score from one of the most influential composers of the modern age.