Tickets and Events
Visit us
Stream
News
Learning
Join and support
About
The Royal Ballet
Director
Kevin O’Hare CBE
Music Director
Koen Kessels
Resident Choreographer
Sir Wayne McGregor CBE
Artistic Associate
Christopher Wheeldon OBE
Administrative Director
Heather Baxter
Rehearsal Director
Christopher Saunders
Clinical Director Ballet Healthcare
Shane Kelly

MADDADDAM

Cast sheet

Saturday 30 November 2024

|

7pm

Inspired by Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy
The 8th 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.

Exceptional philanthropic support from Royal Ballet and Opera Principal Julia Rausing Trust with the generous support of Aline Foriel-destezet, Season Principal

Generous philanthropic support from The Sargent Charitable Trust, The Royal Opera House Endowment Fund and The Royal Ballet and Opera Patrons

In memory of Ms Anne Peet

Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor generously supported by Dame Tina Taylor DBE

The 2024/25 Royal Ballet Season is generously supported by Aud Jebsen

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

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
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 Bjørneboe Brændsrød

Ren

Sae Maeda

Amanda

Leticia Dias

Adam

Giacomo Rovero

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 Bjørneboe Brændsrød

Player 8

Giacomo Rovero

Player 9

Gary Avis

Player 10

Marianna Tsembenhoi

Player 11

Ashley Dean

Player 12

Nadia Mullova-Barley

Player 13

Sumina S. Sasaki

Player 14

Amelia Townsend

Player 15

Liam Boswell

Player 16

Harry Churches

Player 17

Francisco Serrano

Player 18

Joshua Junker

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 Bjørneboe 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 

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

In the aftermath of a global pandemic, a traumatised Snowman/Jimmy believes he is the last human being alive...

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.
Further information

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.

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. Mobile phones should be turned off and stored away safely during performances.

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.

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

Sign up now to our newsletter to get our latest news, offers and alerts

Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, a charitable company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales (Company number 480523) Charity Registered (Number 211775)