PRODUCTION / dido and aeneas, a hipster tale  

A tale of love, friendship and jealousy based on the opera by Henry Purcell.  Playwright and Stage direction by Rafael R. Villalobos. Video projections produced by ellen james

About Dido and Aeneas at Teatro Real (Madrid, Spain 2015/2017)

Dido and Aeneas was first performed in Mr Josias Priest’s Boarding School for Girls in Chelsea in 1688, when Purcell was just 29 years old, and it was his first opera. It tells the love story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and the Trojan Aeneas, and the story was almost certainly useful for the girls educated in this private school at the time. Today, in the 21st century, we are resurrecting this wonderful opera to portray, in this new adaptation, some of the themes in the work that invite us to reflect on our feelings linked to the transition between childhood and adolescence, championing friendship and loyalty over envy, jealousy and all the consequences. If you want to see what happens to Dido, you will have to come to her birthday party.. 

Musical director: Aarón Zapico

Playwrigth and Stage Director: Rafael R. Villalobos

Set and costume designer: Maite Agorreta

Lighting designer: Miguel Ángel Ruz

Orchestra: Ensemble Forma Antiqva + Ensemble de la JORCAM  

TEATRO REAL, MADRID (SPAIN) - DECEMBER 2015