Dante Today

Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture

Romeo Castellucci’s “Divina Commedia” (2008)

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romeo-castellucci-divina-commedia-2008“On February 22, 2002, Romeo Castellucci was assigned the title ‘Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres’ by the Ministry of Culture of the French Republic in the person of Cathérine Tasca. In 2007 Romeo Castellucci was nominated ‘Artiste Associé’ by the artistic direction of the Festival d’Avignon for the 62nd edition in 2008. Here he presented the powerful trilogy Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy.
In 2010 Le Monde named the trilogy dedicated to the Divine Comedy the best play and one of the ten most influential cultural events in the world for the decade 2000-2010.”  — Peak Performances

Click on the following links to read reviews of Castellucci’s Inferno and Purgatorio by Jean-Pierre Léonardini (trans. Isabelle Métral).

Writer Ethan Coen and Director Neil Pepe, “Almost an Evening” (2008)

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“Like many of the Coen brothers’ films, much of ‘Almost an Evening,’ nimbly directed by Neil Pepe, is touched by the premise that hell lurks right under the surface of, or just around the corner from, everyday life. Make that Hell, with a capital H, the same piece of real estate charted by Dante and Milton.” [. . .]    –Ben Brantley, The New York Times, January 23, 2008

“The Divine Reality Comedy” by the Bread & Puppet Theater

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the-divine-reality-comedy-by-the-bread-puppet-theater“A theatergoer’s heart could be forgiven for sinking upon learning that the production she was scheduled to see at Theater for the New City was a riff on Dante called ‘The Divine Reality Comedy’ and featured a ‘Born to Buy’ critique set in ‘Paradise.’ But that heart lifted upon hearing that Peter Schumann’s ragtag collective, the Bread and Puppet Theater, was the company undertaking said riff.” [. . .]    –Claudia La Rocco, The New York Times, December 1, 2007

Hell, the Musical

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“The Vatican has challenged purist Roman Catholics by disclosing plans for a daring rock, punk and jazz opera version of Dante’s Divine Comedy with a soundtrack written by an avant-garde priest.
Monsignor Marco Frisina uses rock music as background for the Inferno, Gregorian chants for Purgatory and lyrical and symphonic classical and modern music for the advent of Paradise in the musical set to be staged in the autumn.
After a premier in a leading Rome theatre sponsored jointly by the Vatican and Italy’s two houses of parliament, the extravaganza will tour other major Italian and European cities ‘to bring back the attention of the widest public to Dante’s immortal poem,’ Riccardo Rossi, director general of Nova Ars, the company producing the opera, told La Repubblica newspaper.”    –John Phillips, The Independent, January 3, 2007

See also : La Divina Commedia home page.

Contributed by Gloria Smith; Patrick Molloy

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Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.

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