Meditations on grief and love in these contemporary reimaginings and interpretations of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.
An anniversary is often a cause for raucous celebration, to mark another year well-lived and full of success. But for T:>Works, their 40th anniversary is instead being commemorated by sombre reflection, with the first edition of DnA Fest. Conceived and directed by T:>Works Artistic Director Ong Keng Sen, DnA Fest shines a spotlight on Henry Purcell’s 1688 opera Dido and Aeneas, which receives reimaginings and reinterpretations across three programmes.
The first of these reimaginings comes in the form of Ong’s film The House of Janus. Originally premiering at the 2024 Singapore International Film Festival, The House of Janus is a deeply personal film, taking on the form of a documentary in the style of cinema verité, as it records Ong and his nonagenarian partner, Adriaan van der Staay, as they drive up to the titular House of Janus in Bettona, Italy, where 16 years ago, Ong and Adriaan came to this house and listened to Dido and Aeneas, the first opera they listened to together.
This became a recurring summer tradition, and the film gently captures one such occasion, as it focuses on quiet moments of intimacy between the partners as they arrive at the grand house, taking the time to open the windows and breathe life into it, and spending time conversing. A large part of the dialogue revolves around temporality and impermanence, where both recognise Adriaan’s mortality and the death of their annual tradition and retreat to the house. They take their time exploring the surrounding area, passing comment on its storied history and origin, its relation to the war, and what will possibly become of it.
There is something wonderfully loving about the camera, it is at times curious as it moves forward to take a closer look at the detailing on the house, panning across the walls to capture each individual carving, as if caressing it with its gaze. In the same way, one does not have to absorb everything Ong and Adriaan say to feel the film, oftentimes their conversation is even muffled by the incidental sounds, and their comfort with each other emanates from the screen, recognising that the end will eventually come, but more than that, that their presence in the present is what matters most, where they cherish what limited time they have with each other left, every waking moment precious as they look at each other with love. It lingers on bugs and insects, where the smallest of lives in this house matter, becoming objects of fascination, worthy of love too.
This overarching narrative is interspersed with moments of operatic fantasy, where performers Michael(a) Daoud and tenor Thomas Michael Allen, in heavy make up and fantastical, avant garde costumes, perform songs from Dido and Aeneas against huge, dream-like set pieces (by Shahrzad Rahmani), perhaps bringing the subconsciousness and unspoken between Ong and Adriaan to life, at times displaying a fiery love, at others an outpouring of grief for that which is lost, and the rage against fate. It makes for an interesting juxtaposition and spaces the slow film into episodes, perhaps in the same way we are struck by existential reckoning when we least expect it.
It is a film that is rife with subtle emotion, one that Ong has poured his heart and soul into, a record of Adriaan in his final years, and ultimately, a way of honouring both him and the house, and the impact its left on Ong as they reflect on both past and future, looking back with nostalgia, and looking forward with hope.
The festival’s reflections on Dido and Aeneas continue with Dido & Aeneas The Belindas, a bold live theatre piece that reimagines the opera through a drag lens. Directed and conceptualised again by Ong, this is a more riotous, experimental take. Drag queen Becca D’Bus, in combat boots and a metallic sculptural wig, commands the stage as host and “Amazonian butch queen” Dido. She frequently breaks the fourth wall, offering commentary and modern context, and reframes the narrative through a contemporary, queer lens.
In this version, Aeneas is a mere chandelier, switched on and off with a clap—no longer the focal point. Instead, Becca questions the self-pitying mythology around Dido’s grief, and shifts focus to Belinda, Dido’s handmaid, portrayed here as a possible lover, someone who may have loved Dido more deeply and sought to pull her from despair.
One of the show’s more striking elements is Becca’s lipsync to the aria “Ah Belinda,” performed live by Thomas Michael Allen (from The House of Janus), himself dressed in drag, seated throne-like to one side. The juxtaposition of the drag performance and the live operatic voice creates a layered, magnetic tension the audience revels in.
Becca isn’t alone in this however, and she is joined by ‘The Belindas’ – her coven of drag compatriots comprising Acyd Rayne, Amir Haziq, Kak Nina Boo, Koppi Mizrahi, Momo Adachi, Showta Oricci, Vignesh Kumar Singh and Vivihoe. Oscillating between roles, at times they play witches out to trick Aeneas, spinning massive lengths of cloth in an elaborate ritual, and at others playing Belinda, mourning the death of Dido with an extravagant funeral filled with grand offerings forming an altar, the Belindas add a sense of the carnivalesque to the entire affair, highlighting the absurdity of life itself and the foibles of human nature, a tribal clan of misfits that find family in each other, loving each other for who they are, flaws and all.
Perhaps though, the realest part of Dido & Aeneas The Belindas is the inclusion of a very real confessional by one of the performers, as they share about being born intersex, and the violence they faced at the hands of their family and doctors to fix them. This is juxtaposed against a live feed of V4LCY, a suicide attempt survivor left paralysed from the waist down, who shares about her painful childhood haunting her to this day, the way others have judged her for the suicide attempt, and even the potentially traumatic revisiting of questions Our Grandfather Story asked in their Can Ask Meh? video series.
But make no mistake, while there is a funeral, this is not an occasion to be sad but to be looked upon with wonder, and be inspired to heal. Dido commands the Belindas to stop crying, and V4LCY herself wheels herself out to the performance area, sharing a moment with the intersex performer. They share of their respective healing processes, through art, through training, through people, and what all this ends up becoming is a survivor story, to subvert the tragic end, and show Dido that she was not alone, was never alone, and that things can be better.
As we hear Cher sing her iconic lyrics – ‘do you believe in life after love?’, we find that we do, filled with the knowledge that we are surrounded by love. Dido & Aeneas The Belindas draws to a close, and T:>Works prepares for The Afterparty, a nightlife gig that launches the reflective affair into pure queer joy, as it makes way for partying, vogueing and community together at 72-13. We feel the love in the air, we are reminded of the brevity of life, and the ability for the arts to save. DnA Fest may come to an end this week, but long live T:>Works, and the transcultural, transgressive, transformative work they put into the world.
DnA Fest runs from 16th to 26th July 2025 at 72-13. Ticketing information and updates on DnA Fest publicly available at tworksasia.org from 22nd May.
Production Credits
| The House of Janus Written by Adriaan Van Der Staay and Ong Keng Sen Executive Producer T:>Works Featuring Thomas Michael Allen, Michael(a) Daoud, Ong Keng Sen, Adriaan van der Staay Director of Photography & Editor Camille Lacadee Composer, Sound Editor & Sound Recordist Gabor Csongradi Set Designer Shahrzad Rahmani Lighting Designer Joseph Wegmann Costume, Hair & Make-up Designer, Bondage Altar Creator Michael(a) Daoud Associate Set Designer Alice Faucher Production Manager Alicia Agustín Film Colorist Désirée Pfenninger Italian Coordinator Cristiano Bartoli Set Construction Francesco Marubhini Makeup Associate Hassandra Costume Construction Anaelle Molinario Producer Traslin Ong Director Ong Keng Sen Dido & Concept and Direction Ong Keng Sen Set and Props Design Khairullah Rahim Costume Design Вeсса D’Bus and Khairullah Rahim Projections Design Elizabeth Mak Composition Toru Yamanaka Lighting Design Andy Lim Creative Production Noorlinah Mohamed With special guest V4LCY as Dido’s Friend |
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