Vergil

A Mythological Musical

By: Maria Dahvana Headley

Narrated by: Will Young, Claudia Kariuki, Derek Jacobi, Le Gateau Chocolat, Alice Fearn, John Partridge, Divina de Campo

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

You may think you know Vergil’s epic poem, The Aeneid -- the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, prophesized to found Rome. Or maybe you’ve heard of the fearsome Cyclopes, the tragic queen Dido, the Trojan horse, the River Styx and the three headed dog who guards the underworld. But what of the man who wrote it and why? This is that story.

This time, full of warrior queens, rebels, queer poets and pirate women which begins in Greece, in 19BC. Vergil has been commissioned by the Emperor Augustus to write an epic poem to glorify himself and Rome, but he isn't remotely done writing - he's eleven years into a bout of writers block. In the harbour, returning from her own Sapphic heartbreak, is his former student, Sulpicia, who boards the ship and demands to hear the Aeneid, with her own agenda - or that of Augustus.

This musical reinvents Rome's national poem as a tale of two writers figuring out how to change the world. Written by New York Times best seller Maria Dahvana Headley and featuring a myriad of marginalised and overlooked characters, in a swashbuckling adventure, fighting back against the oppressive Roman Empire and shining a brilliant light on hidden history. Vergil and Sulpicia embark on a voyage through the history of both epic poems and empire, as they try to finish the poem before the emperor catches up with them. Together, they'll braid a subversive narrative into the Aeneid through soaring ballads, poppy bangers, barber shop quartets, and comedy raps. This musical journey features over 25 songs composed by Alexandra Braithwaite, Elizabeth Purnell and Joseph Keckler, and sung by the cast lead by Will Young and Claudia Kariuki, with Derek Jacobi, Le Gateau Chocolat, Alice Fearn, John Partridge and Divina de Campo.

Also starring: Alžbeta Matyšáková, Ani Nelson, Ashley Zhangazha, Ashok Gupta, Beth Hinton-Lever, Cavin Cornwall, Dan Collins, Douglas Jones, Ella Djurovich,Frewyn Thursfield, George Georgiou, Gordon Kennedy, Harrison Knights, Jacoba Williams, Jonathan Case, Luke Hammond, Mark Hannah, Max Runham, Michael Kosko, Nadim Naaman, Olivier Huband, Olugbeminiyi Bammodu, Oscar Hansen, Raj Ghatak, Robyn Mcintyre, Romeo Mika, Sam Howard-Sneyd, Sharan Phull, Shaun Mendum, Silas Carson, Tachia Newall, Tonderai Munyevu, Tristan Waterson and William Collison. With special thanks to London Musical Theatre Orchestra Singers, conducted by Freddie Tapner.

Directed by Polly Thomas. Musical direction by Harrison Knights.

Produced by Naked Productions for Audible Originals

©2023 Audible Ltd. (P)2023 Audible Ltd.

Epic in every sense!

This story puts new life into the forgotten lares and penates of Ancient Rome. It’s like a Vergilian BOGO: you get the Aeneid (and much beautiful poetry) together with a queer, swashbuckling, writing-of-the-Aeneid frame story. Plus some amazing songs, ranging from ear worms to bangers. A magical way to get to know (or reacquaint yourself with) a fascinating text.

"A Bad Man's Scribe"

I ADORED this and have actually hoped to read or watch something like this for a long while. Virgil is being hunted by Augustus for his supposedly mostly complete Aeneid (it is not complete at all) when Sulpicia (based on a actual woman and Roman poet who's name we know!) comes along to help him.

Sulpicia is known for her love poems and her love of women and her determination here to save Virgil, who knew her growing up, leads her to ghost write the Aeneid and may lead her to face the same fate if she does not succeed. Off to Carthage they go where Virgil's lost love and Augustus catch up to Virgil - and lines in the Aeneid are added and myths told along the way throughout mixing and melding with the story's "history" and the poems happenings. Everyone is delightfully queer and I loved how different kinds of music and songs played into things.

Things suspected by historians are nodded to and I really hope Maria Dahvana Headley makes a transcript and the voice actors get credited to their roles in writing here because some Roman names and personas I am familiar with - others I can only guess at.

Loved it!

(maybe this can be a series? Ovid and his Metamorphoses? the Many Homers and the Iliad/Odyssey? Sappho? Euripides!?)

amazing!

This musical makes the Aeneid and the context in which it was written accessible and engaging -- while also including plenty of allusions for Classicists. I've been teaching the Aeneid on and off for ten years. Listening to this over the summer made me excited to teach it again this year.