Epic music theatre retelling of Aeneas’ journey as a modern-day refugee trying to belong.
Aeneas walks into a bar on his first night in Oxford: a refugee forced to leave his homeland. He finds himself in Dido’s Bar, where the House Band play jazz and folk influenced by their own cultures. Spotted by bar owner Venus, Aeneas is pulled onto the stage and so begins a story of love, jealousy and ambition.
Sit at a table and watch the story unfolding all around you as the OVADA Warehouse is transformed into Dido’s Bar: a cabaret-style venue at the edge of town. The international cast draw from their own heritage to inspire the music: the tar and tanbour of Persian classical and Kurdish folk music, Arabic and Berber singing styles, Finnish folk songs and a Western jazz trio of keys, drums and bass.
Dido’s Bar is an epic retelling of Virgil’s Aeneid, one of the world’s oldest myths of migration and the founding of Europe, Aeneas “made a refugee by fate” flees war-torn Troy (in modern day Turkey) to find a home in Italy. Facing resistance from humans and manipulation from Goddesses Juno and Venus, he ends up founding the Kingdom that would become Rome.
Retold for the 21st century through the eyes of refugees today, the show is inspired by Director Josephine Burton’s encounter with Kurdish Iranian refugee and now Finnish resident Composer, Marouf Majidi.
️ Book tickets online or in-person at Old Fire Station (OX1 2AQ).
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Conceived and Directed by Josephine Burton
Written by Hattie Naylor
Composed by Marouf Majidi with additional composition by Riku Kantola
Set and Costume Design by Bryan Woltjen
Music and Sound arranged, designed, and directed by Riku Kantola
Movement Direction by Ayse Tashkiran
Lighting Design by Peter Small
Produced by Charlie Bunker
Dido’s Bar is co-commissioned by Oxford Contemporary Music and co-produced in the UK with Royal Docks Team, Oxford Contemporary Music and Journeys Festival, with additional support from Arts Council England, Backstage Trust, The Foyle Foundation, Cockayne – Grants for the Arts, Royal Victoria Hall Foundation, The London Community Foundation, Genesis Foundation, Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland, The Marchus Trust, Austin and Hope Pilkington, The Leche Trust and individual donors.
The Oxford production of Dido’s Bar is supported by Old Fire Station Oxford.