Dido and Aeneas

by Dewey Dell

2026

concept and direction: Agata Castellucci, Teodora Castellucci, Vito Matera
with: Agata Castellucci, Teodora Castellucci, Alberto Galluzzi, Trevor Louw, Francesca Siracusa
original music: Demetrio Castellucci
choreography: Agata Castellucci, Teodora Castellucci
dramaturg, light and set design: Vito Matera
soprano vocal recording: Benedetta Zanotto
costume design: Dewey Dell, Guoda Jaruševičiūtė
set realization: Laboratorio scenografia Pesaro - Lidia Trecento
organisation: Valeria Fărîmă
photo and video documentation: Eva Castellucci, John Nguyen
production: Dewey Dell
co-production: CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del Friuli Venezia Giulia, FOG Triennale Milano Performing Arts Festival, Teatro della Tosse Genova / Rassegna Resistere e Creare, Torinodanza Festival / Teatro Stabile di Torino – Teatro Nazionale, Teatro Alighieri / Fondazione Ravenna Manifestazioni
in collaboration with: AMAT and Civitanova Danza per RAM – Residenze Artistiche Marchigiane, progetto promosso da MiC e Regione Marche; Centrale Fies_centro di ricerca per le pratiche performative contemporanee
with the support of Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria, Masque Teatro, Socìetas / Teatro Comandini
thanks to: Alessandro De Giovanni, Scott Wright, Emanuele Dattilo, Andrea Marcon

 

duration: 60'

 

A city is burning and the shimmering flames are reflected on the surface of the sea lapping against the shore. From where we stand the flares and waves blend together and the sky magnifies the light of the fire.

We collect the ashes and trace the stories of bodies swept up by streams of clouds and fire. We find a love story carved by the fury of the elements. We recognize the face of the exiled Queen of Carthage and the figure of the Trojan refugee Aeneas.

The direct confrontation with Henry Purcell’s Baroque masterpiece “Dido and Aeneas” - one of the finest and most luminous interpretations of the Latin tragedy - has inspired an electroacoustic recomposition of the entire score; the libretto’s words, which evoke natural phenomena such as storms, clouds, and lava, nourish and sustain the work’s choreography and stagecraft.

The sky and the human body are the same entity.
Every cataclysm holds within itself a serene raw power, and the potential to tear apart, overthrow, and radically transform everything.

Dates:

03-04/10/2026 FOG festival / Triennale Teatro – MILAN (IT) avant premiere

07/10/2026 Torinodanza festival – TURIN (IT) premiere

23/10/2026 Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria – PERUGIA (IT)

31/10/2026 Teatro della Tosse / Rassegna Resistere e Creare – GENOVA (IT)

01/11/2026 Teatro della Tosse / Rassegna Resistere e Creare – GENOVA (IT)

04/11/2026 Città delle 100 Scale festival – POTENZA (IT)

28/11/2026 CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del Friuli Venezia Giulia – UDINE (IT)