Stuart Pearson Wright

Dido & Aeneas

Dido & Aeneas, the short opera by Henry Purcell, was performed in a Grade II listed Georgian barn in Jevington, Sussex by soprano Sally Matthews and her husband Finnur Bjarnason in 2012. The project began as an ambititious and hubristic 60th birthday celebration of the Musical Director Leslie Bunt whose sister-in-law owned the barn and was best friends with Sally and Finnur.

It was one of those projects that was created by a dedicated team of friends purely for the fun of it. Through it, Stuart had his first opportunity to design and build a theatrical set. Theatrical spaces have always been a signature in Stuart’s work but this was the first time he created an actual set. The whole project happened over a two week period from start to finish. There were two performances.