Divina Commedia 2.0
some background info

Divina Commedia 2.0
July 2012, Gradinha quarry. Vila Viçosa, Portugal

In the 14th century Dante Alighieri wrote an epic poem: Divina Commedia, about a person in crisis, making a journey from hell via purgatory to heaven. 

In this performance the theme is similar: a family is in deep crisis. The drama tells about a child, her mother and her father: João.
João is “lost” in his life and disconnected from his child: his mind is full of obsessions and conflicts. It is a machine, creating sounds with no meaning. We follow João in his attempts to understand his mind and to step out of his mind’s prison, into a world with more harmony, love and beauty.

Lots of metaphors are used in this piece. Most family members symbolize parts of a wounded mind: the super-ego, the perfectionist, the schizophrenic, the abandoned and so on.
The quarry itself symbolizes the whole mind: a world of beautiful and ugly feelings, inviting as well as inaccessible, with clear and dark corners, a hell and heaven.
A mayor source of inspiration was the life and poems of Florbela Espanca, a poet, living in the beginning of the 20thcentury in Vila Viçosa.
Another course of inspiration is the life of the scriptwriter and director of the project: Mirra Sippola.

Director and script:
Miira Sippola.

Atores / Actors: Guardian angle: Nantia Papatheodorou
Avô: Fábio Moreira
Avó: Idalotta Backman
Veera: Ulla Raitio
Olli 1: Jaakko Kiljunen
Olli 2: André Salvador
Emily: Yuko Takeda
João: Tuomas Tulikorpi
Julia: Susana Nunes
The  Child: Diana Niepce
Citizens:  Sofia Ramos, Tania Chita, Vicente de Sá, Jõao Bandeira

Scenographer: Aili Ojalo
Light designer: Anaísa Guerreiro.
Sound designers: Sérgio Martins, Rui Lima.
Costume designer: Sara Machado da Graça.
International Coordinaton: Myllyteatteri.
Local Producer: Escrita na Paisagem (José Alberto Ferreira).  
Initiator, co-producer, sponsor, hosting and general support: Foundation OBRAS
Host of the performance: Camara de Vila Vicosa