Myllyteatteri’s Divina Commedia in Portugal

Myllyteatteri is leading the international theatre project, which transforms Dante’s Divina Commedia to theatre, makes the second step:

Divina Commedia 2.0 is performed in Portugal as a part of the Escrita na paisagem Festival July 4th-7th 2012. The crew of the project has been gathered together from Finland, Greece and Portugal. The performance is directed by Miira Sippola.

Myllyteatteri has collected theatre artists from different corners of Europe to the project. The international and interdisciplinary group from Finland, Greece and Portugal creates Divina Commedia 2.0 in a unique and impressive site specific location in an abandoned marble quarry in Vila Vicosa, Portugal, as the part of the Escrita na paisagem –festival venue. The name Escita na paisagem means ”written in landscape”.

The content of the performance

Divina Commedia 2.0. is a theatre play of a man in crisis and the way out of it. It is a theatrical symphony about confronting yourself and finding the beauty.  

Myllyteatteri’s Divina Commedia has the same structure as Dante’s: Hell – Purgatio – Paradise. In Myllyteatteri’s version of Divina Commedia a man gets an invitation from a Child. The man notices that the landscape and people in it, among whom the Child takes him, are familiar. Are they his own family? Society? Collective rules? Powers of his own mind? The journey where the man is taken, appears to be the most dangerous of all the journeys. To get out of the labyrinth one must die. But the prize is timeless beauty which we all shall share.

The languages spoken in the performance are English and Portuguese, with a small tastes of Finnish, Greek and Japanese. The language is not crucial issue in the performance, as the notes are not important in music. The theatrical music is what matters.

Escrita na paisagem Festival in Portugal during July and August 2012, around Evora in the beautiful environment of Alentejo www.escritanapaisagem.net