A royal descent into madness, told through bodies in motion. The most doomed romance in history, en pointe.
Edward Watson takes the role of Crown Prince Rudolf in Kenneth MacMillan's compelling ballet which lives out the final eight years of Rudolf's life with its relentless downward spiral of political intrigue, drugs and murder. It culminates with the suicide pact at the hunting lodge - known as Mayerling - between Rudolf and his 17-year-old mistress, Mary Vetsera (Mara Galeazzi). Filmed in high definition and recorded in true surround sound.
Acting
Watson's body becomes a vessel of collapsing aristocracy.
Direction
MacGibbon captures claustrophobia the stage could never contain.
Costume
Decadent uniforms that suffocate as much as they impress.
Director
Ross MacGibbon
Edward Watson
Prince Rudolf
Iohna Loots
Princess Stephanie
William Tuckett
Emperor Franz Josef
Cindy Jourdain
Empress Elisabeth
Sarah Lamb
Countess Marie Larisch
Elizabeth McGorian
Baroness Helene Vestera
Steven McRae
Bratfisch
Laura Morera
Mitzi Caspar
Gary Avis
Colonel 'Bay' Middleton
Sergei Polunin
Hungarian Officer #1
Bennet Gartside
Hungarian Officer #2
Thomas Whitehead
Hungarian Officer #4
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Edward Watson originally understudied Rudolf in 2003; his 2010 performance was hailed as definitive after years of living inside the role's physical demands.
The real Mayerling incident accelerated the Habsburg collapse—Rudolf's death left Franz Ferdinand as heir, whose 1914 assassination triggered World War I. The ballet's 1978 premiere arrived as Europe questioned its own inherited power structures.
US
