Set in a music club, teetering on the edge of belonging, Dido’s Bar is a new immersive theatre and music production opening in London’s historic Royal Docks before touring to Manchester, Leicester, Portsmouth, and Oxford.

Dido’s Bar is an epic retelling of Virgil’s Aeneid, a story of migration, love and assimilation. It is retold for the 21st century through the eyes of refugees today, and created and performed by a multilingual international ensemble of actor-musicians. Nightly, divine bar managers, Juno and Venus, welcome world-class artists onto their stage, and around their performances, the drama unfolds.

The work is inspired by director Josephine Burton’s encounter with Kurdish Iranian refugee and now Finnish resident, composer Marouf Majidi. Marouf’s personal and musical contribution, alongside playwright Hattie Naylor, Josephine, the cast and the Dido’s Bar House Band, is the heartbeat of the tale. The music is created by Marouf Majidi and Riku Kantola.

Dido’s Bar, 23.9.–29.10. at the Royal Docks and on tour in the UK.

London, 23.9.–15.10. Tickets from £7.50. Unit F, The Factory, Factory Rd, Royal Docks, London E16 2HB. Read more and book here.

Manchester 10.10.–21.10. Tickets £15. Sonata Piano & Cabaret Lounge, St Ann’s Alley, Manchester M2 6AJ. Read more and book here.

Leicester 18.10.–19.10. Tickets £15. The Y Theatre, 7 East Street, Leicester LE1 6EY. Read more and book here.

Portsmouth 22.10.–23.10. Tickets £16.76. Staggeringly Good Brewery, Rodney Road #Unit 10, Portsmouth PO4 8SS. Read more and book here.

Oxford 27.10.–29.10. Tickets from £10. The Warehouse 14A Osney Lane, Oxford OX1 1NJ. Read more and book here.