Jonathan Watkins made Isherwood's novel of a day of grief into a ballet for the Linbury Theatre, with John Grant singing George's thoughts and Ed Watson dancing his body.
The Royal Ballet staged Jonathan Watkins’s A Single Man, after Christopher Isherwood’s novel, at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden from Monday 8 to Saturday 20 September 2025. The singer-songwriter John Grant sang the part of George’s mind.
Isherwood published the novel in 1964. It follows George, a gay, middle-aged English professor in early-1960s Southern California, through a day of grief for his partner Jim, who has died suddenly. Tom Ford’s film of it, starring Colin Firth, was nominated for an Oscar.
Watkins, who directed and choreographed, split George in two, with the body danced and the mind sung. The production played in the Linbury Theatre and was shared with Factory International.
Grant was born in Michigan in 1968 and led the band the Czars before his solo debut, Queen of Denmark, in 2010.
Ed Watson, a former Royal Ballet principal, danced the body, sharing the role with the guest artist Jonathan Goddard.
Grant wrote original songs for a new score by Jasmin Kent Rodgman, played live by musicians of Manchester Collective. Holly Waddington, who won an Oscar for the costumes of Poor Things, supplied the original costume concepts.