Birmingham Royal Ballet – a Lowry Partner Company - is to bring its critically-acclaimed new production, Black Sabbath – The Ballet, to Lowry, Salford next month – the show’s first visit to the North of England.

The show premiered last year to sold-out audiences and critical acclaim and it comes to Lowry from Wednesday 8th to Saturday 11th October 2025 ahead of a run at Sadler’s Wells in London.

The show was a complete sell-out when it premiered in Autumn 2023, bringing heavy metal fans to ballet for the first time, and this return will see some updated interview audio and even sharper sound design to ensure the dial can be turned up to 11!

A full-length, three-act, Ballet Now commission, Black Sabbath - The Ballet was created by a host of international talent including lead Swedish choreographer Pontus Lidburg, Cuban designer Alexandre Arrechea, Tony Award winning composer Christopher Austin with additional choreographers Raúl Reinoso and Cassi Abranches and composers Marko Nyberg and Sun Keting. Dramaturgy is by Richard Thomas and lighting design is by KJ.

The 8 Black Sabbath tracks featured are: Paranoid (Paranoid, 1970); Ironman (Paranoid, 1970); War Pigs (Paranoid, 1970); Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath, 1970); Solitude (Master of Reality, 1971); Orchid (Master of Reality, 1971); Laguna Sunrise (Vol 4, 1972) and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, 1973). The music has been re-orchestrated for the Royal Ballet Sinfonia with new compositions inspired by Black Sabbath also performed live by the orchestra and live on stage guitarist Mark Hayward reprises his role.