
This production is recommended for ages 14+.
Performance dates
30 March - 18 May 2026
Run time: 3hrs
Includes interval
An intoxicating mix of dangerous desires, family secrets and political intrigue spirals into a royal disaster in Kenneth MacMillan’s psychologically thrilling ballet, inspired by real life events. Playing a strictly limited run at the Royal Opera House, book your official tickets to Mayerling today!
Crown Prince Rudolf, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is haunted by dark obsessions and an overwhelming fixation on his own death. Isolated from friends and family, he finds understanding only in the young and beautiful Baroness Mary Vetsera, who shares his dangerous fascination with mortality. Trapped by the rigid conventions and suffocating pageantry of the imperial court, Rudolf and Mary begin a secret love affair. As forbidden passion intensifies and their morbid fantasies deepen, desire and despair collide - driving the doomed lovers inexorably toward tragedy.