Rabat’s Royal Theater Opens Doors With All-Moroccan Gala

Marrakech – Morocco’s Royal Theater of Rabat officially opened to the public on Wednesday evening. The long-awaited event brought together Princesses Lalla Khadija, Lalla Meryem, and Lalla Hasnaa, alongside France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron.

The opening gala featured an all-Moroccan lineup of performers. It also marked the first-ever joint appearance of the country’s two leading orchestras on a single stage.

Designed by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, the theater sits on the banks of the Bouregreg River between the twin cities of Rabat and Salé. Construction began on October 7, 2014, with an initial budget of MAD 1.3 billion ($130 million). The building is among the last projects Hadid designed before her death in 2016.

The complex includes a 1,800-seat main theater, an open-air amphitheater with a capacity of 7,000, experimental performance spaces, and a 350-seat restaurant. The main auditorium features a crystalline geometry inspired by traditional Moroccan muqarnas. The structure spans roughly 27,000 square meters across 7.1 hectares.

The venue sits in the continuity of the Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. It stands alongside the Mohammed VI Tower as part of the “Rabat Ville Lumière” urban development program.

Princess Lalla Hasnaa presided over the evening in her capacity as president of the Royal Theater Foundation’s board of directors. Members of the foundation’s board greeted the princesses and Macron before the group took their seats in the Royal Box.

The evening opened with a short film about the theater. The national anthem followed, performed by a combined orchestra and choir.

What came next was a first in Moroccan musical history. The Orchestre Philharmonique du Maroc, approaching its 30th anniversary, and the Orchestre Symphonique Royal, marking 20 years, performed together for the first time. A total of 76 musicians and 40 choristers took the stage under the baton of conductor and concert pianist Dina Bensaïd.

The program moved between Tchaikovsky’s concerto repertoire, opera arias by Bizet and Verdi, Arabo-Andalusian heritage, and contemporary Moroccan composition. Pianist Marouan Benabdallah performed classical works.

Mezzo-soprano Ahlima Mhamdi delivered opera arias. Soprano Samira Kadiri interpreted Arabo-Andalusian pieces. Composer and oud virtuoso Driss El Maloumi presented a contemporary creation rooted in Moroccan musical traditions.

Every performer on stage was Moroccan. The programming was a deliberate choice to showcase national talent across classical, operatic, traditional, and contemporary genres.

At the end of the performance, the princesses and Macron greeted the lead artists, including Bensaïd, Benabdallah, Mhamdi, Kadiri, El Maloumi, and Younes Terfas, director of the Orchestre Symphonique Royal.

The audience included hundreds of artists, intellectuals, cultural figures, and performing and visual arts professionals from Morocco and abroad. Members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Rabat – ambassadors, chargés d’affaires, and representatives of international organizations – also attended.

The opening comes nearly a year and a half after a symbolic first visit to the venue in October 2024, when Princess Lalla Hasnaa hosted Brigitte Macron during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit.