Nicole DuPort and Alana Dietze (Photo by Makela Yepez Photography)
Reviewed by V Cate
The Echo Theater Company
Through August 26
Dido, reputedly the founder and first queen of Carthage, has inspired both legend and art. In myth, she fell passionately in love with Aeneas, a Trojan prince who was shipwrecked on her shores. Despite the depths of her love, she was ultimately abandoned and, in her grief, inflicted death upon herself.
Like many of us, Nora (Alana Dietze, ostensibly our modern-day Dido) finds herself in the existential wasteland between a botched youth and a non-existent future. Nora is a musicologist by trade and a wastrel in her lifestyle. Having spent her early adulthood in a string of meaningless sexual situationships, the delusional Nora has now committed herself to Michael (Joby Earle), an English professor — and quintessential middle-age fuckboy. Maybe he’s the answer she’s been looking for. Though then again, maybe his wife Crystal (Nicole DuPort) would say otherwise.
Abby Rosebrock’s Dido of Idaho may not be the clearest parallel to its mythical namesake, but the tragedy of feminine diminishment by masculine carelessness remains timeless. Still, damaging heterosexual love isn’t the central theme in the script: instead, self-destructive romantic and sexual relationships are a trauma response to the less-than-loving care given by Nora’s mother Julie (Julie Dretzin). But even that is a red herring: self-love’s the thing, which former beauty queen Crystal, Nora’s rival, imparts with the self-awareness and style of a TikTok-er over fresh-baked cookies and platitudes.
Rosebrock’s script does offer some genuinely interesting and dramatic moments, particularly between Nora and Crystal. But Abigail Deser’s direction rushes through the moments of connection, reaction, yearning, secrets, and realization that might otherwise compel us to really invest in the story. The human connective tissue is sadly missing. Elissa Middleton stands out as a visibly giving actress in her performance as Ethel.
The look and sound of the play are well executed, though not much signals Idaho as its setting other than a prevalent yuppie-whiteness. The action is refreshingly staged a la theater-in-the-round. Amanda Knehans’ modular set design blends locations together with dynamic levels of functionality, and Deser ably directs action through the surreal-ish space.
The arc is messy and, despite a labored conclusion, the play doesn’t provide real resolution. The latter portion of the play veers toward the sentimental and/or self-indulgent while the piece most succeeds when it embraces filth, sex, violence and how complicated love and self-love can be.
Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm, Mon., 8pm; thru Aug. 26. Running time: one hour and 45 minutes with no intermission. www.EchoTheaterCompany.com
