reviving a classic

Young Vic Theatre
London

One of a series of collaborations between creative director of 59 Productions Leo Warner and director Katie Mitchell, After Dido was inspired by Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Devised in celebration of the 350th anniversary of the composer’s birth, this production used the “live cinema” technique, developed by Leo and Katie over the course of their work together, to distinctly recontexualise and re-interpret the original opera.

Described by The Independent’s Edward Seckerson as “[letting] us in on the artifice and deception behind all creative art”, this production deconstructed a classic to build something entirely new.

SELECTED REVIEWS

[Katie Mitchell’s] direction is literally arresting; she compels attention moment by moment, which means that an hour and a half is stretched. Yet it is rich: you wouldn’t want to lose these moments.

The Guardian

The technical aspects of the show are staggering. The film shots are not only beautifully composed, lit, and executed but the process happens in real time before our very eyes. At any given moment we can choose whether to look at the live action or the finished shot, and seeing both lets us in on the artifice and deception behind all creative art.

The Independent

CREDITS

Director

Katie Mitchell

Designer

Vicki Mortimer

Director of Photography

Leo Warner for 59 Productions

Lighting designer

Philip Gladwell

Sound Design

Gareth Fry

Produced by

English National Opera