THINK I’ll lose my mind … The brilliant Black Sabbath ballet is coming home and will rock up at Birmingham’s Hippodrome later this year for a string of shows forming part of a wider tour taking in both the UK and America.

Birmingham Royal Ballet today announced homecoming dates running at the theatre from September 18 to 27, giving Sabbath fans the chance to see the powerful production in the city where it all began.

Carlos Acosta and Sofia Liñares / © Perou

The full-length three-act ballet is a spectacular show featuring thrilling dance alongside full orchestrations of legendary Sabbath standards such as Paranoid and Iron Man, together with new orchestral works inspired by the band’s music.

The other Sabbath signature tracks performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, with the addition of Mark Hayward’s electric guitar and a drummer onstage, are War Pigs, Black Sabbath, Solitude, Orchid, Laguna Sunrise and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

Carlos Acosta and Tony Iommi / © Drew Tommons

Birmingham Royal Ballet director Carlos Acosta and Sabbath founder guitar hero Tony Iommi worked together closely on the project, which was first mooted back in pre-pandemic 2020, and which has toured to sell-out houses since 2023.

The new tour dates are: Virginia Arts Festival (May 28-30); Kennedy Center, Washington (June 4-8); Birmingham Hippodrome (September 18-27); Lowry, Salford (October 8-11); Plymouth Theatre Royal (October 16-18); Sadler’s Wells, London (October 22-25) and Edinburgh Festival Theatre (October 30 Oct-November 1).

To see Birmingham Royal Ballet’s full 2025-26 season programme, trip the light fantastic to the official website. Lead image in this post: Sofia Liñares / © Perou