Image: Barbican Centre, London
The Barbican has announced 'The Creatures of Prometheus', a new production by Academy of Ancient Music and circus company Circa, set for Barbican Hall on 24 June 2027 at 3pm. The event reimagines Beethoven’s only ballet, bringing together period-instrument performance and contemporary circus in a version described by the venue as a thrillingly physical reinvention of the work.
According to the Barbican, the production is being made by Academy of Ancient Music with Circa for Beethoven’s anniversary year. The listing frames the piece around Beethoven’s relationship to the Prometheus myth, noting that the composer’s ballet retold the story “for an age of Revolution.” The event is promoted by Academy of Ancient Music in partnership with the Barbican, and 'The Creatures of Prometheus' is supported by the Polonsky Foundation as part of the Barbican’s Beethoven 200 celebrations.
The Barbican’s event page places the performance within its classical music and theatre-and-dance programming and also tags it as part of the Academy of Ancient Music’s 2026/27 activity. The venue describes the collaboration as combining “sublime music” with the “endlessly creative physicality” of Circa’s performers. The page also lists Laurence Cummings as conductor and Yaron Lifschitz as artistic director for Circa.
The source material says that Beethoven’s own words are central to the framing of the production, quoting him as declaring, “Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom!” The Barbican’s description connects that statement to the mythic figure of Prometheus, who brought fire to humanity and paid a price for his daring, drawing a parallel between the myth and the composer’s own struggles with misunderstanding and personal tragedy.
The event takes place in Barbican Hall, located within the Barbican Centre in London. The venue information on the event page gives the address as Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS, and notes that the hall sits inside the main Barbican building. Ticket information on the page lists standard prices from £22, with a Young Barbican price of £18 and access tickets from £22, subject to availability.
The Barbican’s wider summer and autumn material places the Beethoven performance alongside a broader programme of concerts, films and exhibitions, including a Haruki Murakami season, 'The Sacrifice', 'Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica', and Delcy Morelos: 'origo'. Within that context, 'The Creatures of Prometheus' is presented as one of the centre’s major 2027 music events, scheduled for Thursday 24 June 2027 at 15:00.
