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Tell us more about using promenade style theatre. Why did you decide on this approach? What do you hope it brings to the experience for the audience?
Dido and Aeneas is a tricky opera in that, within an hour, it travels from a court scene to a witches lair, to a grove, to a scene with sailors and finally back to a court. Instead of trying to execute scene changes in very little time, the work seems to naturally lend itself to promenade, to taking audiences to different spaces to reflect the different spaces in the opera. Promenade was also a personal choice, in wanting to bring an audience so much closer to a singer than we’re usually allowed. This proximity makes the work much more intimate for an audience – reflecting the work’s themes, inviting you in to be a part of Dido’s entourage and going with her on her journey from love to heartbreak. |
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What are some of the classic opera conventions and how have you modernised them for this production?
The most important element of opera is that the music is acoustic and live. We have kept these elements, but changed the scale. Instead of a chamber orchestra of perhaps 12-20 players, we have an ensemble of four musicians. We’ve also changed some of Purcell’s music, mixing in fragments of Beyoncé, Stravinsky, 1920s music hall, and jazz to create a collage work that feels very modern.
We have a conductor, but the conductor ends up singing, and performing a role, which is pretty unusual! We’ve kept the music structures – arias, trios, dances, but again, interrupted these, cutting repeats where we want the action to continue. We’ve also done away with the chorus – having these sung by our four singers instead.
It’s still opera, just on a smaller, more intimate scale!
Tell us more about the adaptation process of the work.
This began as my final project for my master of theatre directing from Toi Whakaari. I had known composer Alex Taylor for a few years, and enjoyed the way his music was dramatic, often witty, and always filled with gorgeous textures.
The most important element of opera is that the music is acoustic and live. We have kept these elements, but changed the scale. Instead of a chamber orchestra of perhaps 12-20 players, we have an ensemble of four musicians. We’ve also changed some of Purcell’s music, mixing in fragments of Beyoncé, Stravinsky, 1920s music hall, and jazz to create a collage work that feels very modern.
We have a conductor, but the conductor ends up singing, and performing a role, which is pretty unusual! We’ve kept the music structures – arias, trios, dances, but again, interrupted these, cutting repeats where we want the action to continue. We’ve also done away with the chorus – having these sung by our four singers instead.
It’s still opera, just on a smaller, more intimate scale!
Tell us more about the adaptation process of the work.
This began as my final project for my master of theatre directing from Toi Whakaari. I had known composer Alex Taylor for a few years, and enjoyed the way his music was dramatic, often witty, and always filled with gorgeous textures.
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The reason I asked him to re-compose this particular opera was because I had always been interested in this work. Dido is a fascinating character, in that she is so strong – and her music is so powerful – yet at the end, she is so angry and shamed by Aeneas leaving she chooses to die. This dissonance has always bothered and intrigued me, and I wanted to spend some time exploring this. I was also really interested in how much this narrative is tied up with the idea that we ‘fall in love’. That it’s outside of our control. In this opera, I feel that Dido has a lot of agency in being able to consciously choose to love Aeneas. She thinks about it, before committing herself.
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When fate interrupts it is to take Aeneas away, it is in the form of witches – and I wanted Alex to be able to take a lot of artistic license here. What do witches mean to a 21st century audience? This music was quite radical for its time, how do we re-capture that same radical quality that Purcell achieved?
So these were the questions Alex and I started with. From there, we began rehearsing, sharing these ideas, and asking our performers to bring their own responses into the rehearsal room. Through playing lots of games, improvising and experimenting, we found a believable and relatable relationship between Dido, Aeneas, Belinda, the 2nd Lady, the Sorceress, and the orchestra. After that it was sharing everything we had discovered with an audience, and hoping they would feel the same spirit we had found creating this show!
In what time and place is Dido and Aeneas set? How have you used theatre opera conventions to convey that?
We have had a lot of fun colliding the old and the new – more traditional costumes of big skirts and corsets with home-made wigs and chuck taylors. The dissonance between tradition and acknowledging who we are as makers in 2016 is something we enjoy exploring. This reflects one of our big questions in the show – what does it mean for a strong young woman today to perform such a tragic role, composed by a man more than 300 years ago. Can you still be a feminist and love Dido? How can we hold both our own time and the themes from Purcell at once and do justice to both?
You've staged this production before - how has the show changed and evolved from production to production. How has the theatre/environment coloured and shaped the work each time?
The last time we performed this show, we were in the glorious surrounds of Te Uru Contemporary Art Gallery. We had Ralph Hotere paintings on the walls around us, and performed the opera with the brilliant red Michael Parekowhai piano. The Basement has a very different aesthetic – its dark, its messy, it is a home to a rough and ready style of theatre. In changing venue, the opera shifted from being one where Dido is most at home, (the pristine Art Gallery), to one where the witches make more sense and potentially have more power. This is going to shift the whole dynamic of the performance, and ensuring Dido still ‘belongs’ is something that we have to stay conscious of.
We also have a new cast member, so we’ve had to give Barbara Paterson time to find her own authentic version of the character of the 2nd Lady and find performance choices where she shines.
So these were the questions Alex and I started with. From there, we began rehearsing, sharing these ideas, and asking our performers to bring their own responses into the rehearsal room. Through playing lots of games, improvising and experimenting, we found a believable and relatable relationship between Dido, Aeneas, Belinda, the 2nd Lady, the Sorceress, and the orchestra. After that it was sharing everything we had discovered with an audience, and hoping they would feel the same spirit we had found creating this show!
In what time and place is Dido and Aeneas set? How have you used theatre opera conventions to convey that?
We have had a lot of fun colliding the old and the new – more traditional costumes of big skirts and corsets with home-made wigs and chuck taylors. The dissonance between tradition and acknowledging who we are as makers in 2016 is something we enjoy exploring. This reflects one of our big questions in the show – what does it mean for a strong young woman today to perform such a tragic role, composed by a man more than 300 years ago. Can you still be a feminist and love Dido? How can we hold both our own time and the themes from Purcell at once and do justice to both?
You've staged this production before - how has the show changed and evolved from production to production. How has the theatre/environment coloured and shaped the work each time?
The last time we performed this show, we were in the glorious surrounds of Te Uru Contemporary Art Gallery. We had Ralph Hotere paintings on the walls around us, and performed the opera with the brilliant red Michael Parekowhai piano. The Basement has a very different aesthetic – its dark, its messy, it is a home to a rough and ready style of theatre. In changing venue, the opera shifted from being one where Dido is most at home, (the pristine Art Gallery), to one where the witches make more sense and potentially have more power. This is going to shift the whole dynamic of the performance, and ensuring Dido still ‘belongs’ is something that we have to stay conscious of.
We also have a new cast member, so we’ve had to give Barbara Paterson time to find her own authentic version of the character of the 2nd Lady and find performance choices where she shines.
