A 2021 season of participative readings from The Divine Comedy

 

in the middle of the journey of our life …
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita …

700 years on from Dante’s death, his epic narrative poem The Divine Comedy continues to grip the imagination of countless artists, composers, film-makers, writers and academics across the world. Translated into more than one hundred languages, The Divine Comedy stand alongside the Bible and the works of Homer and Shakespeare as one of the ultimate pillars of literary creation in human history.

 

To celebrate Dante’s astonishing legacy and his poem’s enduring power and fascination, Milan theatre producer Julia Holden is curating a season of participative readings from The Divine Comedy throughout 2021, in collaboration with award-winning playwright Justin Butcher and a team of top UK theatre professionals.

 

Canto 26
From the ridge high above the Eighth Bolgia can be perceived a myriad of flames flickering far below, and Virgil explains that within each flame is the suffering soul of a Deceiver. One flame, divided at the top, catches the pilgrim’s eye and he is told that within it are jointly punished Ulysses and Diomed. Virgil questions the pair for the benefit of the Pilgrim. Ulysses responds with the famous narrative of his last voyage, during which he passed the Pillars of Hercules and sailed the forbidden sea until he saw a mountain shape, from which came suddenly a whirlwind that spun his ship around three times and sank it.

 

To find out more, and to book your place, click here.