English National Ballet's autumn tour of Rudolf Nureyev's Romeo & Juliet is scheduled to begin at Liverpool Empire on 15 October 2026. The company lists performances through 17 October before the production moves to Manchester.
The production's current opening-night selection names Aitor Arrieta as Romeo and Emma Hawes as Juliet. Both are Lead Principals with the company; casting is subject to change, and audiences should check the selection for their own performance.
Nureyev's staging brings Shakespeare's tragedy to ballet with music by Sergei Prokofiev, performed live by English National Ballet Philharmonic. The production runs approximately two hours and 55 minutes, including two intervals.
Further stops are Manchester's Palace Theatre on 21–25 October, Southampton's Mayflower Theatre on 3–5 December, and London Coliseum on 14–24 January 2027.
Hawes joined ENB in 2018 and became a Lead Principal in 2023; Arrieta joined in 2016 and reached that rank in 2023, according to their company biographies.
Consult the official production and casting page and the biographies of Emma Hawes and Aitor Arrieta.
Archive portrait licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Archive portrait of choreographer Rudolf Nureyev at the Royal Ballet School, London. Not a photograph of the 2026 tour or its cast. No editorial changes; display thumbnail. — Allan warren · CC BY-SA 3.0 Image source
