On Friday, the new season of the Real Teatro de Retiro, an artistic project by the City Council and Teatro Real dedicated to children, youth, and families, was presented. Tickets for the 2025-2026 season, which will take place between September 2025 and July 2026 at the Centro Cultural Daoiz y Velarde, can be purchased on the Real Teatro de Retiro website.
This initiative aims to bring music and performing arts closer to younger audiences through a diverse range of offerings in the upcoming edition. It includes 30 original productions and experimental projects revolving around opera, dance, musical theater, staged concerts, choral music, live music cinema, puppetry, workshops, debates, meetings, and parties, designed for different age groups starting from three years old.
A program that includes 248 functions for all ages
The Real Teatro de Retiro will host 248 performances, 86 for schools and 162 for families, catering to viewers of various ages. The season will kick off with the concert series «Miniclásica: Discovering Baroque Dance,» followed by the opening concert featuring the Forma Antiqva ensemble. «De sòpitu» will blend popular tradition with cultured elements of baroque music.
Opera will play a central role in the program with a revival of «The Barber of Seville,» premiered in 2023 at the Real Teatro de Retiro, and a new production of «The Magic Flute,» featuring young talents from the fifth edition of ‘Crescendo,’ a program by the Friends of Teatro Real Foundation that supports the artistic development of future opera stars.
This season will also explore tradition through two different perspectives. Teatro Xtremo will present «Lazarillo,» a chamber opera by David del Puerto that offers a contemporary view of the Spanish novel through music and staging. «Más acá de los romances,» by For the fun of it company, draws inspiration from Spanish romances to create a beautifully crafted musical show.
Musical tales will have their place with «Mother Goose Tales,» accompanied by Ravel’s music, and «Ariadne and Bluebeard,» a musical version by Manuel Sánchez García. The program will also bring two classic German silent films, «Nosferatu» and «Metropolis,» accompanied by live music, appealing to audiences of all ages.
Puppets, choral opera, dance, flamenco, and cinema for all audiences
Puppetry will continue to be a significant part of the Real Teatro de Retiro’s program with Claroscuro Teatro and «The Girl Who Will Save Our World,» a celebration of life and an invitation to rediscover stories that are part of us. «A Moment in Suspension» will offer an immersive experience of music, dance, and images that will allow viewers of all ages to explore and reinterpret the Real Teatro de Retiro venue.
The «Micróperas» project will bring together the efforts of four institutions under the Real Teatro de Retiro’s umbrella. Students from the Madrid Conservatory of Music, the Madrid High School of Singing, and the Royal School of Dramatic Arts (RESAD) will have the opportunity to showcase their new operatic creations for a few days.
Dance will take center stage during the Christmas season with «The Nutcracker,» as well as in other moments throughout the season with the dance show «Yumé» and the emerging flamenco cycle, «The Body in Dance.»
Commitment to education and inclusion
In addition to artistic programming for children of various ages, including babies, teenagers, and all audiences, such as silent film cycles or ‘The Real on Screen,’ the Real Teatro de Retiro is committed to education, inclusion, and cultural decentralization.
Educational initiatives are carried out through two areas. Firstly, through artistic programming in school matinees thanks to the School Friend Program, which will offer even more benefits to participating educational institutions, their students, and families this season. Secondly, through LÓVA (Opera, a Learning Vehicle), an artistic decentralization and educational mediation project that has reached 26,000 students and teachers throughout Spain over 18 editions.
In the realm of education, the «Tech Talks» will bring together professionals and students in their final years of set design, stage direction, architecture, and lighting at the Real Teatro de Retiro.
Also noteworthy is the Inclusive Musical Group’s activity, a pedagogical project established in 2020 where children of different profiles and sensitivities develop their cognitive and social skills through musical learning and collective practice.
Since the 2024-2025 season, a new initiative has been added that combines music with advances in neuroscience, in collaboration with the Sesé Foundation, culminating in an inclusive concert that will close out the season.
FUENTE
