Birmingham Royal Ballet - Pre Performance Talk

Birmingham Royal Ballet are holding a pre-performance talk at the Birmingham Hippodrome on Friday 27 November, a half-hour session that takes you behind the curtain before the evening's show. It's run by the people who work both on stage and behind the scenes, and they'll be talking through the ideas, the thought processes, and the hard work that go into the company's 2026 productions.

If you've ever wondered what actually happens in the wings, this is your chance to hear it from the people who make it happen. The talk runs for about 30 minutes, so it's a relatively short addition to your night rather than a whole separate outing. It's aimed at people who already have tickets for that evening's performance, and you'll need to book your place in advance.

It's also worth remembering where this sits. The Hippodrome is the largest dance campus outside London, and it's home to Birmingham Royal Ballet, led by Carlos Acosta, alongside FABRIC, Dance Consortium, OneDanceUK and the digital agency The Space. The theatre itself has been entertaining audiences on the South Side for more than 125 years across its two spaces, the Main Theatre and the Patrick Studio, staging award-winning musicals, plays and comedy. The talk takes place on the Main Stage, the same stage where the company performs.

If you're interested in more of the behind-the-scenes side of things, the Hippodrome also programmes related experiences like 'Class on Stage', where you can watch the company's dancers warm up. The talk itself is free, but only for Birmingham Royal Ballet ticket holders seeing the evening performance on the same day, and you have to book it in advance.