Ensemble Orquesta’s production of Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Arcola Theatre during the Grimeborn festival introduces an interactive voting gimmick where audiences cast ballots for singers, but the conceptual staging ultimately overshadows the foundational musicality of the opera.
The Bottom Line
- The Gimmick: Arcola Theatre audiences act as casting directors, voting on which performers take on the roles of Dido and the Sorceress.
- The Production: Founder Marcio da Silva handles multiple roles as founder, artistic director, musical director, and Aeneas, yielding a minimalist staging featuring a sofa and contemporary disco-glam costumes.
- The Music: The seven-player Ensemble Orquesta Baroque—directed from the keyboard by Predrag Costa and featuring Michael Fields on lute, theorbo, and baroque guitar—delivers the standout artistic moments.
Democracy at the Arcola: Inside the Grimeborn Casting Experiment
You never quite know what you are walking into with Grimeborn, the Arcola Theatre’s annual festival of opera-at-the-edge. But few attendees arriving for Ensemble Orquesta’s take on Dido and Aeneas expected a local democracy experiment. For this run, two separate performers learned the dual roles of Dido and her nemesis, the Sorceress. Before the curtain rose, the house was asked to vote on who should tackle which part.
Most of the audience admitted to knowing little about the individual talents beforehand. It serves as an amusing jape that certainly gets ticket-holders talking. Yet, novelty voting cannot entirely mask the structural choices happening once the music starts.
Weighing Concept Against Craft in a Minimalist Carthage
Described by inkl as the first great English opera and premiered at a School for Young Ladies in Chelsea in 1689, the entire tragic arc of Dido and Aeneas clocks in at barely an hour. Conductor Raymond Leppard dubbed it “Tristan and Isolde in a pint pot,” a description tailor-made for the ethos of the Grimeborn festival. In this staging, founder Marcio da Silva stretches himself thin. Alongside playing Aeneas—the Trojan hero who washes up in Carthage only to abandon the doomed queen—da Silva wears the hats of both artistic and musical director.
Economy of means is commendable, but the minimalist approach leans heavily on concept rather than stagecraft. Costumes blend contemporary threads with a subtle wink of disco glamour, while the physical set consists of little more than a sofa. That minimalist frame works well enough, but the physical movement relies too heavily on synchronized slow-motion choreography. inkl notes that this stylistic choice occasionally betrays Purcell’s irresistible dance rhythms.
Performance and Instrumentation at the Arcola
| Production Element | Details & Participants | Critical Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| The Concept | Audience voting for Dido/Sorceress cast | An amusing jape that gets audiences talking, though it bypasses vocal familiarity. |
| Staging & Design | Marcio da Silva (Director/Aeneas), minimal set, disco-glam costumes | Stretching resources thin; synchronized slow-mo movement sometimes fights Purcell’s rhythms. |
| Vocal Performances | Helen May (Dido), Rosemary Carlton-Willis (Sorceress) | Helen May brings restrained dignity and a striking final lament, though brick venue acoustics challenge diction. |
| Musical Direction | Ensemble Orquesta Baroque, Predrag Costa, Michael Fields | The seven baroque instrumentalists carry the dramatic and musical weight with freewheeling imagination. |
The venue’s brick walls do not do operatic voices any favors, making diction occasionally difficult to parse. Even so, the cast displays commitment. Helen May, stepping up as the People’s Choice for Dido, acts and sings with a restrained dignity. While an extra touch of volume modulation might have increased the soulfulness, her delivery of Dido’s climactic lament is full of feeling. Watching her final moments unfold as she is wrapped in a winding cloth delivers a shocking jolt of pathos.
Rosemary Carlton-Willis finds herself constrained by a script that doesn’t grant the Sorceress much menace, yet she maintains enough theatrical presence to signal that her character controls the emotional ups and downs. Meanwhile, da Silva’s Aeneas remains on the blunt side. Production limits also spawn creative humor: during the Sailor’s brief song “Come away,” da Silva handles the physical mime while orchestra recorder player Paul Jenkins picks up the vocal duties.
The Instrumental Heartbeat Behind the Staging
If the stagecraft occasionally trips over its own conceptual ambitions, the instrumental accompaniment tells an entirely different story. The true dramatic temperature of the evening is set by the seven players of Ensemble Orquesta Baroque, directed from the keyboard by Predrag Costa. Particular praise belongs to Michael Fields, whose work across the lute, theorbo, and baroque guitar introduces a freewheeling, imaginative spirit that proves the evening’s most reliable anchor. While the voting gimmick and modern twists provide plenty of post-show conversation, it is the baroque ensemble operating in the background that keeps this Carthage afloat.
Dido and Aeneas runs at the Arcola Theatre through Saturday. For tickets and schedule information, visit arcolatheatre.com. What do you think of interactive casting gimmicks in classical opera—does audience participation enhance live performance, or should directors stick to traditional staging? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
