Dates

5 - 22 April 2025

Location

Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Main Stage

Running time

2:15, incl. 1 interval

Tickets

From € 23

Lady Macbeth visual

Delving into the mind of one of Shakespeare’s most fascinating creations

The American theatre and film choreographer, Helen Pickett, is renowned as ‘one of the few prominent women in contemporary ballet’. For her Dutch debut, she collaborates with director James Bonas and composer Peter Salem to delve into the mind of the ruthless Lady Macbeth.

Delving into the mind of one of Shakespeare’s most fascinating creations

In this new, full-length production, Pickett and Bonas reveal the unseen, hidden scenes from Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth, seen through the eyes of Lady Macbeth, one of the most captivating ‘creations’ of the sixteenth-century playwright. As a spectator, we feel her fears and desires, her unbridled lust for power, the pinnacle of this power and, in the end, her descent into deep despair.

Glamour and decline

In her very personal, powerful dance idiom, Pickett creates a fascinating world, in which she and Bonas zoom in on themes like control, glamour, love, reality and illusion, and the disintegration of someone’s mind when that world collapses. As in previous productions, they are working with the composer Peter Salem, who previously proved himself a fantastic storyteller with Dutch National Ballet, in his music for Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Frida.

Unique talent 

Pickett danced with William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt for eleven years and performed for five years with the Wooster Group in New York, before becoming a high-profile choreographer. Her recent successes include Emma Bovary (based on Gustave Flaubert’s classic Madame Bovary), Camino Real (based on Tennessee Williams’ play) and The Crucible, inspired by the play in which Arthur Miller uses a seventeenth-century witch hunt as a metaphor for the American witch-hunt on the communists in the 1950’s. Ted Brandsen remarks, “This production, for Scottish Ballet, really grabbed me by the throat. The ability to translate such a ‘linguistic’ piece into such an impressive and energetic dance production shows unique talent.”

Credits

Choreography, co-direction and treatment  Helen Pickett 
Direction and treatment  James Bonas 
Music  Peter Salem 
Set and costume design  Luís Carvalho 
Lighting design  Bonnie Beecher
Video design  Anouar Brissel
Assistant to the choreographer  Sara Hillmer  

Musical accompaniment  Dutch Ballet Orchestra conducted by Koen Kessels

Order tickets

Ticket prices

We provide discounts tailored for certain groups to ensure our performances are accessible to all. Please visit this page to determine if you qualify for a discount.

Price category

Standard

CJP | Stadspas | Youth aged 16 and under

Premium

€ 83,00

€ 68,00

1st

€ 72,00

€ 62,00

2nd

€ 60,00

€ 50,00

3rd

€ 47,00

€ 37,00

4th

€ 34,00

€ 24,00

5th

€ 23,00

€ 19,00

Dutch National Opera & Ballet uses a system of dynamic pricing. This means that tickets for popular performances may increase in price as the performance date approaches and more tickets are sold. All prices exclude the booking fee (€ 2 per ticket).

Student discount and student alert

Last-minute deal! When a performance isn’t sold out, students can purchase a ticket online for just € 19 on the day of the performance starting from 13:00.

To stay updated on more offers, sign up for our student alert. This way, you’ll be informed in advance about which performances you can attend for just € 19!

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Helen Pickett and James Bonas

The story behind the story

Helen Pickett and James Bonas on Lady Macbeth.

Dutch Ballet Orchestra

Dutch Ballet Orchestra

Dutch Ballet Orchestra is the leading orchestra for dance in the Netherlands. In every performance, the orchestra searches for inspiring synergy between music and dance, in order to give the audience a magical experience. From classical ballet to modern masterpieces, and from music education to talent development, Dutch Ballet Orchestra inspires the movement in dance..

Dutch Ballet Orchestra

From 1 August 2024, the Flemish conductor Koen Kessels (1961) is the new music director of Dutch National Ballet, and artistic director and principal conductor of Dutch Ballet Orchestra. He took over the baton from Matthew Rowe, who has fulfilled this special dual position since 2013 and who will be returning as principal guest conductor.

Since its inception in 1965, the orchestra has been the proud musical partner of Dutch National Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater. One important mission of Dutch Ballet Orchestra is investing in the youngest generation of dancers and musicians.

In 2023, for instance, the orchestra issued an open call for young composers, in collaboration with Dutch National Ballet, resulting in a new work that was presented in the Junior Company’s touring programme, Ten. The orchestra has also been working for some years already with the Dutch National Ballet Academy. For example, the orchestra members provide the music for the end-of-year performances Dancers of Tomorrow.

Dutch Ballet Orchestra has also collaborated regularly on innovative – and award-winning – family and school productions. Creatures, in partnership with ISH Dance Collective, won the international Young Audiences Music Award and the production Hansel and Gretel, received various Musical Awards. Last season, this tradition was continued in the production Beauty and the Beast. 

hetballetorkest.nl

Introduction

An introduction offering background information to enhance your theatre experience will take place 45 minutes before the performance. The introductions, held in Dutch, are free and require no reservation — simply present your ticket. They are held in the Souterrain.

Production partner

FONDS 21