RADA Partners with British Museum on 2026 Annual Ball

As part of the British Museum Annual Ball 2026, curated by renowned artist and designer Es Devlin, RADA presented a series of live, site-specific performances inspired by the evening's themes of red, weaving, connection and the stories that bind people across time and cultures.

Performed throughout the Museum's galleries and dining spaces for around 900 guests, this specially curated programme invited guests to encounter objects, histories and ideas in new and unexpected ways. Recent RADA graduates brought the Museum's collections to life through a sequence of performances exploring craftsmanship, storytelling, memory, identity and human connection.

Directed by Lucy Skilbeck, RADA's Collaborative Project Lead and former Director of Actor Training, the programme drew on a combination of original writing and selected literary, historical and poetic texts. Performances took place within major temporary exhibitions, including Korea and The Bayeux Tapestry, as well as across the Ball's principal dining areas. The work was created in dialogue with the Museum's collections and reflected the evening's wider artistic vision.

This collaboration highlighted the shared commitment of the British Museum and RADA to artistic excellence, public engagement and the creation of meaningful encounters with culture. It also offered emerging artists a unique opportunity to perform for an influential audience while contributing to one of the Museum's most significant fundraising events.

The programme featured original and adapted texts by Carol Ann Duffy, Mary Gaetana Agnesi, Simon Armitage, Cho Chihun, Cho Chonsong, Helen Curtis, Kim Hyesoon, Han Yongun, Adrienne Rich, Jacques J. Rancourt, Gordon Murray, Pak Tujin, Mary Wollstonecraft and Jeff Young.