Opera Preview: Dido And Aeneas @ The Bussey Building

By Zoe Craig Last edited 134 months ago
Opera Preview: Dido And Aeneas @ The Bussey Building

If you’ve loved London’s recent down-and-dirty opera offerings (like Punchdrunk’s office block-based Duchess of Malfi and OperaUpClose’s La Bohème), we’ve got another recommendation for you.

Innovative opera company Opera in Space is headed to Peckham this January, producing Purcell’s masterpiece Dido and Aeneas in the Bussey Building, an old cricket bat factory on Rye Lane. It’s the same place that’s hosted successive Royal Court shows, as well as being used by the Peckham and Nunhead Film Festival, and hosting the CLF Art Café. (If you haven’t been, we really recommend a visit. And now Peckham's on the new Overground line, you've really got no excuse.)

Dido and Aeneas is a tragic tale of love and deception first performed in around 1688. Opera in Space is bringing Purcell’s work right up-to-date, promising to break down barriers to the opera while retaining a level of respect for the art form. Taking place over two floors of the labyrinthine Peckham warehouse, Dido and Aeneas will be an immersive production that should appeal to opera lovers, sceptics and novices alike.

Dido and Aeneas by Opera in Space runs at the Bussey Building, 133 Rye Lane, London, SE15 4ST from 9 to 26 January. Tickets range from £10 to £15. Visit operainspace.com for more information.

Last Updated 04 January 2013