Dido and Aeneas: Songs 33-37

Director

Advanced Directing Class Showcase

Henry Purcell

Dido, who’s heartbroken over Aeneas’ choice to leave Carthage to found Rome, arrives in her home with Belinda. Aeneas finds her there and tells her that he will defy the God’s will to leave and stay with her. Dido, upset that he would even consider leaving, casts him out. After Aeneas leaves, Dido takes some poison and calls out to Belinda, asking her to remember her after she dies.

This was the final project for Advanced Directing at Iowa State University. We were each tasked with pitching an idea for a show, storyboarding, casting, and managing the rehearsal process. I pitched Dido and Aeneas, as it is an operatic piece that has always stuck with me - specifically the ending of the story. “When I am Laid in Earth”, or “Dido’s Lament” as it is more commonly known as, is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. It shows the beautiful anguish in Dido’s heart after she is abandoned.

The pitch for a fully realized production, however, was different than what was produced on the stage. If I ever get the opportunity to produce a fully realized production, I would like to set it in an AI post-apocalyptic world. I believe that the pulls on Aeneas, torn between his love for Dido and his moral duty to his people is very comparable from the time of the Trojan War to what we would experience after we have destroyed ourselves. For more information about this concept, please look at the Dido and Aeneas page in the concepts page.

Creative Team:

Director: Kaushik Raghavan

Music Director: Carlee Carpenter

Cast:

Dido: Asia Keane

Belinda: Kyrsten Holmes

Aeneas: Devin Tekolste

No photos or video available.