To bring radically new meaning to a play is a virtue. To bring radically new meaning to a musical score is sacrilege. But why? Why shouldn’t musicians be as creative and interpretative as actors?
With support from King’s Cultural Institute, in November 2016 Helios Collective and King’s College London’s Music Department co-presented a series of reimagined readings of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas as Dido and Belinda.
Through workshops and performances, musicians and audiences experienced musico-dramatic reinterpretations of Purcell’s celebrated opera. Each evening, different approaches to facets of the musical performance were enacted across the opera, with audience/performer discussions following each show.
Creatives
- Ella Marchment
Director - Leo Geyer
Composer and conductor - Daniel Leech-Wilkinson
Dramaturg - Robert Hersey
Assistant Director - William Cole
Assistant Conductor - Simeon John-Wake
Movement Director - Frances Bradshaw
Designer - Emily Adamson
Costume Supervisor - Robert Youngson
Lighting Designer - Beatrice Wallbank
Stage Manager - Becky Peskett
Assistant Manager - Maggie Schroeder
Producer
Principals
- Camilla Bull
Dido - Isolde Roxby
Belinda - Samuel Pantcheff
Aeneas - Lilly Papaioannou
Sorceress - Charlotte North
First witch - Catrin Woodruff
Second witch - Sophie Gallagher
Second woman
Chorus and Covers
- Madeleine Joyce
Dido - Jenny Begley
Belinda - Guy Withers
Aeneas - Gráinne Gillis
Sorceress - Emma Newman-Young
First witch - Kathleen Greene
Second witch - Rebecca Hardwick
Second woman - Olivia Bell
Chorus - Matthew Duncan
Chorus - Joan Munoz
Chorus - Callum Speed
Chorus
Orchestra
- Philippa Mo
Lead violin - Clarice Rarity
Violin I - Rachel Gorman
Violin I - Tim Rathbone
Violin II - Maria Fiore Mazzarini
Violin II - Mark Gibbs
Viola - Elin Parry
Viola - Philip Collingham
Continuo cello - Lucy Railton
Tutti cello - Toby Hughes
Double bass - Arngeir Hauksson
Theorbo - William Cole
Keyboards - Bertie Baignet
Keyboards cover
Dido and Belinda was a collaboration between King’s College London’s Department of Music and Helios Collective, supported by the Principal’s Fund, the Arts and Humanities Research Institute, and the Cultural Institute at King’s College London.