Dido and Aeneas performed by the Trickster Theatre performance

Musical theatre laboratories led by Vyacheslav Ignatov and Maria Litvinova, creators of the Trickster Theatre, winners of the Golden Mask Award. Purcell’s opera is set on a scaled-down stage in a traditional baroque theatre, created especially for the production. The plot centres on the tragic love story of the Trojan leader Aeneas and the Carthaginian queen Dido. The new production shows the heroes of an ancient myth as puppets whose destinies are controlled by beings from outer space.

Maxim Ivkin, musical director of the production and author of the musical version of the opera, has invited a unique cast of authentic performers: Anastasia Bondareva, Ekaterina Liberova, Eduard Morozov (Perm), Lyubov Sharomova (St. Petersburg), and the Golden Age Baroque Chapel, conducted by Alexander Listratov.

Directed by Vyacheslav Ignatov.

The stage space and costumes for the performance were created by artists and fashion designers Olga & Elena Bekritskaja, who are regular collaborators with the Trickster Theatre. In their work, they drew on images of biomechanics and natural forms.

The lighting designer is Aleksey Khoroshev, winner of the Golden Mask Award.

Light operator: Anton Gordienko.

The Trickster Theatre was founded in 2005 by Maria Litvinova and Vyacheslav Ignatov, who had previously worked at Moscow’s Shadow Theatre. Since 2016, Trickster has been working with the Centre for Drama and Directing. Maria Litvinova and Vyacheslav Ignatov specialise in puppet productions, shadow theatre, and interactive productions, particularly in the ‘steampunk’ style, but they also produce major dramas and operas. They have 26 productions to their credit in Russia, Germany and the UK. Winners of the Golden Mask Award in 2010 and 2016.