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 stands 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, throughout 2021, Julia Holden together with acclaimed playwright Justin Butcher are curating a season of participative readings from The Divine Comedy assisted by a team of top UK theatre professionals.
These sessions take place at 7.00 pm (UK) and (8.00 pm Italy) every second Thursday.
During this 90 minute Online Event (hosted on the Zoom platform) the participating group will together read, share, and reflect on the chosen Canto – in its English translation. This will also include listening to the Canto read in Italian. Towards the later part of the session, with the help of the team of UK theatre professionals, we will hear it read in English fluently.
Brief Summary of Canto XV
Dante and Virgil come to a plain of burning sand through which a stream of boiling blood runs down to the Phlegethon; it flows from a flood of tears wept perpetually by the Old Man of Crete. On the plain of burning sand, the blasphemers lie supine and the usurers crouch and, in Canto 15, Dante and his guide encounter the sodomites, eternally and aimlessly wandering. They include Dante’s former teacher Brunetto Latini, a famous Florentine intellectual, the Roman author Priscian, celebrated Florentine lawyer Francesco d’Accorso and the bishop of Florence Andrea de Mozzi. Dante’s sympathetic depiction contrasts dramatically with the usual gruesome portrayals of the punishment of homosexuality in this period.
To find out more and participate online contact info@JProductions.it