Dido and Aeneas Cork Opera House

Henry Purcell can never have imagined how his opera Dido and Aeneas would be re-invented by director John O’Brien in this daring production, first presented at Cork Opera House in February 2011.

O’Brien has Cara O’Sullivan play Dido and her mirror image, the Sorceress, Simon Morgan play Aeneas, the Sailor and the Spirit, and Majella Cullagh and Mary Hegarty double up as Sharon and Belinda and the Witches.

But O’Brien doesn’t stop there: he also has the musicians — Marja Gaynor, Carolyn Goodwin, Ilse De Ziah and Piia Parkarinen — on stage throughout, weaving in and out of the action as they perform. By paring back the cast, O’Brien has created a production as tight as can be: over the course of an hour, there isn’t a single moment wasted.