the piece - the myth

The point of departure of The Love Project is a present day reworking of the myth of Aeneas and Dido as told by the Roman poet Virgil.

The myth ìAeneas and Didoî begins with the destruction of the city Troy. Aeneas, having lost his home, sets out on ship to fulfill his destiny: to found the new empire of Rome. On his voyage he was shipwrecked on the North African coast in the city of Carthage ñ a splendorous new city ruled by the Queen Dido. She herself was an exile from war who made Carthage second home. The two fell in love. Dido offered Aeneas to stay and help build this new civilization. Aeneas, torn between his love for Dido and his need to fulfill his own destiny, decided to leave ñ breaking Didoís heart and inspiring her rage. According to the myth she took her own life.
The Aeneid is a quintessential myth for our times. It tells the story of immigrants in the time of war, of exile, the clash of cultures, the construction and demise of new and powerful societies, the eternal search for home, and the difficulty of finding sustainable love between people in a time of such radical flux.