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MADDADDAM

Inspired by Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy

Thursday 14 November 2024 7pm

The 1st performance by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House.

Please note that casting is subject to change up until the start of the performance. Please continue to check the website for the most up-to-date information.

Approximate Timings

The performance will last approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes, including two intervals

  • Act I: Castaway

    40 minutes

  • Interval

    30 minutes

  • Act II: EXTINCTATHON

    30 minutes

  • Interval

    25 minutes

  • Act III: Dawn

    35 minutes


A co-production between The Royal Ballet and The National Ballet of Canada

Credits

  • Direction and Choreography

    Wayne McGregor

  • Music

    Max Richter

    © 2022 Decca Publishing, a division of Universal Music Publishing Limited

  • Creative consultant

    Margaret Atwood

  • Conductor

    Koen Kessels

  • Set designer

    We Not I

  • Costume designer

    Gareth Pugh

  • Lighting designer

    Lucy Carter

  • Film designer

    Ravi Deepres

  • Dramaturgy

    Uzma Hameed

  • Sound System Designer

    Chris Ekers

  • Staging and Assistants to the Choreographer

    Amanda Eyles

    Jenny Tattersall

    Mikaela Polley

    Jessica Wright

Cast

Act I: Castaway

  • Snowman/Jimmy

    Joseph Sissens

  • Oryx

    Fumi Kaneko

  • Crake

    William Bracewell

  • Toby

    Melissa Hamilton

  • Zeb

    Lukas B. Brændsrød

  • Ren

    Sae Maeda

  • Amanda

    Leticia Dias

  • Blanco

    Gary Avis

  • Blackbeard

    Milan Yep

  • Painballer 1

    Téo Dubreuil

  • Painballer 2

    Aiden O'Brien

  • Prologue, Crakers, Pigoons

    Artists of The Royal Ballet

    Students of The Royal Ballet School

Act II: EXTINCTATHON

  • Player 1

    Melissa Hamilton

  • Player 2

    Fumi Kaneko

  • Player 3

    Sae Maeda

  • Player 4

    Leticia Dias

  • Player 5

    Joseph Sissens

  • Player 6

    William Bracewell

  • Player 7

    Lukas B. Brændsrød

  • Player 8

    Giacomo Rovero

  • Player 9

    Gary Avis

  • Player 10

    Marianna Tsembenhoi

  • Player 11

    Ashley Dean

  • Player 12

    Nadia Mullova-Barley

  • Player 13

    Chisato Katsura

  • Player 14

    Amelia Townsend

  • Player 15

    Liam Boswell

  • Player 16

    Harry Churches

  • Player 17

    Francisco Serrano

  • Player 18

    Harrison Lee

  • Pigoons, Craker Prototype

    Artists of The Royal Ballet

    Students of The Royal Ballet School

Act III: Dawn

  • Descendant Blackbeard

    Marco Masciari

  • Descendant Ren

    Ashley Dean

  • Descendant Amanda

    Marianna Tsembenhoi

  • Descendants, Descendant Children, Pigoons

    Artists of The Royal Ballet

    Students of The Royal Ballet School

  • Ancestor Snowman-the-Jimmy

    Joseph Sissens

  • Ancestor Toby

    Melissa Hamilton

  • Ancestor Zeb

    Lukas B. Brændsrød

  • Ancestor Amanda

    Leticia Dias

  • Ancestor Adam

    Giacomo Rovero

  • Ancestor Ren

    Sae Maeda

  • Ancestor Crake

    William Bracewell

  • Ancestor Oryx

    Fumi Kaneko

Students of The Royal Ballet School appear by kind permission of the Artistic Director, Iain Mackay

Music

  • Orchestra

    Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

  • Concert Master

    Sergey Levitin

  • Text Readings

    Tilda Swinton

    Josh Davidson with special thanks to Tif Loehnis

  • Vocal Recordings

    St Wendel of all the Altman’s Community Chorale

    Tenebrae 

The Royal Ballet

  • Director

    Kevin O’Hare CBE

  • Founder

    Dame Ninette de Valois OM CH DBE

  • Founder Choreographer

    Sir Frederick Ashton OM CH CBE

  • Founder Music Director

    Constant Lambert

  • Prima Ballerina Assoluta

    Dame Margot Fonteyn DBE

Synopsis

Act I: Castaway

In the aftermath of a global pandemic, a traumatised Snowman/Jimmy believes he is the last human being alive. He has led the Crakers – a peace-loving new race of hominid engineered by his one-time best friend Crake – out of the Paradice Dome, where they were created, and into the newly depopulated world. Feeling himself to be an interloper among Crake’s perfect people, he has dubbed himself ‘Snowman’ after the Abominable Snowman. He is haunted by fragments of memory about Crake and also the beautiful Oryx, Crake’s partner and the love of Jimmy’s life. Both are now dead.

Meanwhile, there are other survivors: Toby, a former member of the eco-pacifist God’s Gardeners, who hopes her friends may also be alive, especially her secret love, Zeb; Ren, an exotic dancer; Amanda, an artist and Ren’s best friend; and the Painballers, a group of violent criminals led by Toby’s former abuser, Blanco, who have escaped incarceration in the aftermath of the wipe-out.

INTERVAL

Act II: EXTINCTATHON

A game of extinction and survival inspired by the computer game played by Crake and Jimmy as teenagers. As players ‘choose their skins’, we see the communities that inhabited the pre-apocalyptic dystopian world. The God’s Gardeners create their own sanctuary where Adam, their leader, preaches against materialism. Scientists play god, the violent CorpseCorps suppress dissent, and the MADDADDAM resistance disrupt. Time scrolls forward and back as encounters between players show glimpses of characters’ past lives in the years before the wipe-out. Amidst it all, Crake has a vision of a better world and creates first the Crakers and then the BlyssPluss pill – a drug that induces euphoria, but also contains the virus that will destroy humanity in the catastrophe that the Gardeners have foretold as the ‘Waterless Flood’. At the climax of the game, the fates of Oryx, Crake and Jimmy are decided, and Act II ends where Act I began.

INTERVAL

Act III: Dawn

In the future, some generations after the Waterless Flood, the brave new world is peopled by evolved Crakers – the result of cross-breeding between Crake’s new hominids and the homo sapiens survivors of the wipe-out. As Crake had hoped, the Crakers live in harmony with nature and each other. Even romantic rivalry has been programmed out of them and reproduction occurs seasonally in a communal ritual. Yet, whilst Crake had tried to rid his species of symbolic thinking, the Crakers now honour their human ancestors through creating effigies and enacting fragments of their histories. The stories that were told to them first by Jimmy, and later by Toby, have evolved into the beginnings of a scripture in which Oryx and Crake are deities. And among the artefacts that have been preserved from the old world is a gun.

Guidance

Suitable for ages 16+

This production contains adult themes, including depictions of violence, sexual violence and animal violence. There are two gunshots in Act I: Castaway.

Generous support from

Further information

DIGITAL CAST SHEETS

We are working hard on our commitment towards becoming more sustainable and are striving for our net zero goal of 2035. By using digital cast sheets and e-tickets, we have reduced our paper consumption by over five tonnes per year. You can view our digital cast sheets on a computer, tablet or smartphone by scanning the QR codes displayed around the building using your smartphone’s camera app. They are also displayed on screens outside the auditoria. Cast sheets are generously supported by the Royal Opera House Endowment Fund.

GUIDELINES

Photography and filming are prohibited during performances in any of our auditoriums. You are welcome to take pictures throughout the rest of the  building and before performances and share them with us through social media. Commercial photography and filming must be agreed in advance with our press team.

Larger bags and backpacks need to be check into our complimentary cloakrooms. Unattended bags may be removed.

Please do not place any personal belongings on the ledges in front of you.

Only bottled water and ice cream purchased from the premises can be taken into the auditorium.

If you arrive late to the auditorium or leave during a performance, you will not be allowed back to your seat until the interval or a suitable break.

Smoking and vaping are not permitted anywhere on the premises.

The safety of our visitors, staff and artists is our priority. To help us provide a comfortable experience for everyone, please be mindful of others and their personal space.

Our staff are committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect and we ask that you show them and your fellow audience members respect too. We adopt a zero-tolerance approach in response to anyone who interacts with our staff or with fellow audience members in an intimidating, aggressive or threatening manner.

Support Us

We rely on your support to make world-class ballet and opera for everyone. With your donations we can ensure a bright future for the Royal Ballet and Opera, bringing communities together and inspiring future generations up and down the country.

For people, not profit.

rbo.org.uk/donate

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