Manon

The Royal Ballet bring Kenneth MacMillan's Manon back to the Royal Opera House on Friday 16 October, the start of a run that goes through to 25 November. It's a three-act ballet, first staged in 1974 while MacMillan was artistic director of the company, and it's widely considered a cornerstone of modern ballet and one of the greatest narrative works of the 20th century.

The story comes from Abbé Prévost's 1731 novel L'Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut. It follows a young woman torn between marrying the wealthy Monsieur GM and running away with the poor student Des Grieux, in a Paris where even love can be bought. MacMillan set it to an arrangement of Jules Massenet's works rather than the composer's 1884 opera, and the production is finished with Nicholas Georgiadis's designs and Jacopo Pantani's lighting. The story has since inspired several operas, among them Daniel Auber's 1856 work, Massenet's own 1884 opera and Puccini's 1893 one. Critic Deborah Weiss wrote that the production looks every bit as good as it did in 1974.

Francesca Hayward dances the title role, with Marcelino Sambé as Des Grieux, Joseph Sissens as Lescaut and Anna Rose O'Sullivan as Lescaut's Mistress, and Nicol Edmonds also dancing. Lauren Cuthbertson, Matthew Ball, Mayara Magri, Reece Clarke, Akane Takada and Cesar Corrales are also billed. Koen Kessels and Martin Georgiev conduct the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.

Performances run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 7:30pm, with matinees at 1:00pm; there are no performances on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. The run time is approximately 2 hours 45 minutes including two intervals. Tickets range from £9 to £207, with Young RBO prices for selected performances, and the production is on the Main Stage at the Royal Opera House, 41 Covent Garden Piazza, London WC2E 8RF. Cast changes are announced for 22 and 26 October and 5 November.