DIDO WHAT HAPPENS?

Dido and Aeneas was written in 1689 by Henry Purcell and Nahum Tate. It tells the story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, during the visit of Aeneas, a hero who escaped the fall of Troy and is on his way to present-day Italy to found the city of Rome. During his visit, Aeneas and Dido fall in love, but Mercury, messenger of the gods, comes to persuade Aeneas not to indulge in the pleasures of love and instead resume his heroic mission. Aeneas realises he must go, and leaves Dido, who commits suicide. The story of Dido and Aeneas was first told by the Roman poet Virgil in his epic poem The Aeneid, written around 25BC. But nothing lasts forever in art – the composer Henry Purcell and his librettist, Nahum Tate, updated Virgil’s original story and added some elements for the seventeenth century, most notably some witches who have it in for Dido, and mislead Aeneas into abandoning her by disguising one of them as the gods’ messenger. There’s lots of information on the internet about what this addition might have meant, but in brief it’s most likely to have been connected to the politics of the day – the marriage between two monarchs could have been intended to celebrate the marriage of William and Mary, and it’s likely the witches were meant to represent Roman Catholics, who were feared for being “anti-English” at the time. Across the ages, Dido has remained one of the most famous classical heroines – like Cleopatra, she is a queen (also African) who comes to a tragic end, brought about at least in part by love. In today’s world, we are no longer surrounded by heroes, witches and tragic heroines, but the deeper truths in the classical stories remain true. We look at Dido differently now as we look at all women differently – after all, we live in more modern times – but we can still ask: are the choices she makes in love the choices we would make? And are they the right ones? Dido is a short opera, and lasts around 60 minutes. In the first Act we meet Dido and Belinda, whom we’ve chosen to imagine as her daughter (she’s a lady in waiting in the original). Belinda encourages Dido to follow her heart. Aeneas declares his feelings for Dido. Alone at night, Dido is visited by dark thoughts. In due course Dido and Aeneas go on a picnic date, but even as it is going well a storm interrupts them, and a messenger gives Aeneas the news he should not be abandoning his mission. Aeneas knows leaving will break Dido’s heart but nevertheless tells her the news. They argue and he leaves. Alone again, Dido commits suicide, and the chorus comments on the tragedy. In this production we’ve chosen an abstract, modern staging to accompany the original score and libretto. The words and music are as would have been sung in Purcell’s time, but we leave it to you to work out what you think is happening, or how you can interpret the classical tale and bring it up to date for our modern times.

We hope you enjoy the performance.

If you have been affected by any of the themes in the production, for confidential support you can visit samaritans.org or call the Samaritans on 116123. You can also visit Mind.org.uk or YoungMinds.or.uk for guides and support. GLOSSARY

Dido – Queen of Carthage, was probably born in what is now Lebanon around 839BC and ruled Carthage 814 – 759BC. She is sometimes called Elissa (not to be confused with Elysium, see below)

Aeneas – was a hero of Troy (see below), who left when it was sacked by the Greeks at the end of the Trojan war. His father was Anchises, whom he carried on his back out of the burning city. His mother was the goddess Venus. Aeneas was, according to Virgil’s Aeneid, given the duty by the gods of founding a new empire in Italy, which was eventually to become Rome

Belinda – Dido’s lady in waiting, a fictional character, here imagined as her daughter Purcell – (1659 – 1695) was an English composer, born in London, who drew on elements of French and Italian music of the day to create a uniquely English kind of baroque music. He wrote secular and religious music. Dido and Aeneas is his only opera. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Carthage – capital of the Phoenician state of Tyre from 814BC – now present-day Tunis, in Tunisia. The empire itself covered large parts of northern Africa and into Spain and the middle East. Carthage often found itself at war with Rome, and in the final Punic Wars (as they were called) was destroyed by Rome in 650BC.

Troy – a city of the ancient world, in present-day Turkey, which was the site of a ten-year war between the Trojans and the Greeks which started because the Trojan prince (Paris) abducted the Greek King Menelaus’s wife, Helen (rumoured to be the most beautiful woman in the world). The siege of Troy lasted ten years and involved famous Greek heroes including Achilles, Odysseus and Ajax. The gods were also heavily involved, taking opposing sides, and frankly causing more trouble than the humans.

Cupid, cupids – Cupid is the child-god of love, usually shown as a naked boy with bow and arrow, who strikes the hearts of humans. He is the son of Mars (god of War) and Venus (goddess of Love). In European art, cupids are child-angel versions of the Roman Cupid, and in plural can be imagined as a group of fat naked babies with wings who look fondly upon love and lovers.

Elysium – the classical (Roman) heaven was thought of as fields of paradise in the underworld, where heroes live after they die.

Hecate – a sorceress, and in classical times the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night and ghosts. Here, we remove her as a separate character and imagine her as the darker, insecure version of Dido’s inner thoughts

Mercury – the winged messenger of the classical gods. In the original, Hecate disguises one of her witches as Mercury, but here we leave the interpretation open – is he a friend of Aeneas, or his own thoughts, or just a bloke with advice?

The story of Actaeon & Diana – the huntsman Actaeon one day happened accidentally upon the goddess Diana bathing naked in a glade, and was, as punishment, turned into a stag. As he ran away, he was hunted and killed by his own hunting hounds.

Jove – the king and chief of all the gods. In Greek he is called Zeus. Hesperia – the ancient Greek name for Italy, meaning “western lands.” Nymphs – not quite goddesses, nymphs are not immortal but are extremely long-lived. They are kindly towards humans, and are usually associated with fertile growing things, like trees and water.

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