Dido Queen Of Carthage

Published Monday 5 June 2006 at 15:30 by Natasha Tripney

The inventive Angels in the Architecture specialise in performing rarely staged works in unusual spaces. Having previously produced Noel Coward’s Still Life in the disused Aldwych tube station, their latest project is a production of Marlowe’s infrequently performed tragedy in a former refuge for homeless women in the heart of Soho.

Rebecca McCutcheon’s promenade piece gets off to an uneasy start, with cast members handing out playing cards to a bemused audience. But once we were seated on benches, in a room decked out as a banqueting hall, the narrative was able to assert itself in earnest and the production came in to its own.

Though there is pleasure to be taken simply from being allowed into this intriguing building, the company does not merely rely on that fact and considerable thought has clearly gone into the use of the various locations of an atmospheric chapel, a secluded courtyard and the refuge’s residential quarters. The piece excels in its attention to detail; watchful Gods perch on fire escapes and smile enigmatically through skylights. Committed performances, particularly from Jake Maskall as the tormented Aeneas and Sarah Thom as the doomed, eponymous queen, add dramatic weight to what proved to be a brilliantly resourceful and exciting production.