An underbaked production that doesn’t quite meet the promise of its concept.

Dido’s Bar is a collaboration between director Josephine Burton, playwright Hattie Naylor and composer Marouf Majidi, paralleling Majidi’s journey across Europe to find a musical home with Aeneas’ journey from Troy back home to Italy. It imagines Dido, Aeneas’ lover, as the owner of a bar that ‘teeters on the edge of belonging’ and where the threat of discrimination and deportation always loom. It’s a musical for the most part, backed by an impressive band, with small scenes and dances in between the original songs.

The music is, initially, fantastic. A hit of 20s swing and jazz, combined with North African and Arab influences that instantly build the world of Carthage. However, it doesn’t innovate beyond this point and so interest is lost with every song – there’s a run of about four songs that genuinely could’ve been continuations of one another. 

The performers are great singers, but when the music stops so does the tension. The combination of a flimsy script and disconnected actors lead to wooden performances that make the warehouse feel very empty indeed. Admittedly, it’s a huge space for six actors to fill, but many of the performances feel like they’re only for the three tables around them. 

This is advertised as immersive theatre production but, to be perfectly candid, it’s not. About five audience members are invited out of the seats throughout the show, the rest of us staying politely observant with no involvement throughout. I feel like a PSA needs to be sent out to the theatre world that immersive theatre =/= a warehouse and two smoke machines. Even when the odd audience member is brought out of their seat for a jig, it’s less ‘immersive’ and more like inviting your Maths teacher onto the dancefloor at the Year 6 disco.

The aesthetic is also confusing. When you walk into the converted warehouse, complete with scarlet drapes, the immediate vibe is that of a wartime music hall. But the neon smokiness of the bar feels more like a speakeasy. But some of the posters decorating the walls are distinctly Victorian. But some performers are in modern dress. And there are phones? Individually, these are all intriguing but together feel less like a deliberate network of periods and more like an awkward pick’n’mix.

This isn’t helped by sound issues throughout. Due to a combination of poor mixing and shaky diction, I missed a huge amount both within dialogue and musical numbers. It’s quite frustrating when you’ve grabbed hold of a piece of story and it vanishes in a mumble.

There is huge potential in this production. In tough times, we always turn to stories and ancient myths like the Aeneid are some of the greatest of all – ripe for updating. These are very talented creatives that, with more clarity and precision, could put on a wonderful piece of theatre. A final note, the warehouse is very chilly. I ran into a fellow audience member who was so cold that he opted to leave at the interval, his blanketed form shivering into the night. Myself, being a titan of professionalism, did the right thing and warmed myself up with a ciggy and a big glass of Malbec. I encourage you to do the same.