RSC Friends

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Photograph by Topher McGrillis.

The play opens with the gods arguing. Irascible, capricious and self obsessed- we are challenged by a lascivious Jupiter, haughty Juno and flirtatious Venus accompanied by a mischievous and puerile Cupid. Like callous oligarchs they view suffering humanity as mere playthings.

Meanwhile a band of refugees from sacked Troy tumble out of the surf in Carthage. Aeneas, their leader, is broken and vengeful recounting the outrages and massacres that he has witnessed. Dido and the Carthiginian court are full of compassion for the new arrivals whilst Venus ensures that Aeneas and Dido fall in love with tragic consequences.

Marlowe’s poetry powerfully portrays the suffering of the bewildered emigres and confronts the audience with uncomfortable parallels with the contemporary human crisis in the Mediterranean.

A thought provoking and fascinating production.