Theatre review: Dido, Queen of Carthage
The National's new production of Marlowe's first play has had some wildly varied reviews. The negative ones have accused it of being deathly slow, and to be fair the word "dynamic" is unlikely to ever be applied to James MacDonald's production. The relatively simple staging is quite engrossing in other ways though, not least through some clear and powerful performances. With its story of a powerful queen being turned by Cupid into a lovesick girl, it plays out like a nightmare version of A Midsummer Night's Dream - initially Anastasia Hille makes Dido's confusion and fawning over Aeneas very funny, but it turns sour as the love spell gradually drives her mad, and leads her to a horrific suicide. I'm not sure why the rather wet Mark Bonnar keeps getting cast as romantic leads - he's outmatched by the charismatic Hille at every turn. At least her falling for him is explained in the story as part of the gods' plan. I really like Marlowe's grasp of the coldness with which the Greek gods manipulate humans: Destroying Dido's life is a mere side-effect of Venus' plan to get her to mend Aeneas' ships for him.
Other performances I really liked were Obi Abili as Iarbas, the African king whose advances Dido was likely to accept until Aeneas came along; and Siân Brooke as Anna, her sister, in love with Iarbas. While it's true that overall the production's 3-hour running time is a bit too leisurely, it's a well-told version of a rarely-performed text. In fact funnily enough the only scene I wasn't convinced by was the one all the reviews have been raving about, namely the prologue with a lecherous Jupiter - it was the one time where I felt the verse speaking was garbled. Maybe they all liked it 'cause it features Ryan Sampson (teenage evil genius from the Sontaran Doctor Who episodes) with his top off. Overall, the production does demand a bit of attention, but in my opinion it pays off; although clearly others have disagreed.
Dido, Queen of Carthage by Christopher Marlowe is booking until the 7th of May at the National Theatre's Cottesloe stage.
Other performances I really liked were Obi Abili as Iarbas, the African king whose advances Dido was likely to accept until Aeneas came along; and Siân Brooke as Anna, her sister, in love with Iarbas. While it's true that overall the production's 3-hour running time is a bit too leisurely, it's a well-told version of a rarely-performed text. In fact funnily enough the only scene I wasn't convinced by was the one all the reviews have been raving about, namely the prologue with a lecherous Jupiter - it was the one time where I felt the verse speaking was garbled. Maybe they all liked it 'cause it features Ryan Sampson (teenage evil genius from the Sontaran Doctor Who episodes) with his top off. Overall, the production does demand a bit of attention, but in my opinion it pays off; although clearly others have disagreed.
Dido, Queen of Carthage by Christopher Marlowe is booking until the 7th of May at the National Theatre's Cottesloe stage.