Paradiso

If in the Divine Comedy we make the journey into the hereafter in the company of the Roman poet Virgil, at the Grec’09 it is the Italian director Romeo Castellucci himself who leads us into that world, unknown to the living, revealing it in such clarity that one would think he had already been there. Castellucci, however, will confirm nothing. All he will admit to is leaving Dante Alighieri’s book on himself to dry, “as if it were a wet shirt”. This trilogy, freely inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, is not only richly imbued with modern, beautiful dramatic art, but is also clearly intended to unsettle audiences, as the Italian director himself makes clear: “everything that can reach the spectator’s heart forms part of dramatic writing”. In Castellucci’s reading of Dante, eternal death in Hell becomes more complex, those in Purgatory remind us of the routines of real life, and Paradise is a meeting-place with the self, a transient moment, a window onto the unattainable. At Grec’09, Castellucci’s brilliant trilogy is staged at three different venues on different days, slowly branding audiences with its indelible mark. The Italian director invites us to embark on the most disturbing journey, one steeped in images that are at once paradisiacal and monstrous, dreamlike and more real than we could ever imagine. Throught Castellucci’s electrifying talent is amply demonstrated, for he is a “total director”, unanimously considered one of the leading lights of European theatre today, one of its stars.