Client: Velvet Loop
Role: Director, Co-writer, Producer
About The Project
‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here’ were the infamous words carved into the entrance of Dante Alighieri’s vision of eternal damnation. In presenting a dark journey through the complex world of Catholic dogma, Dante tried to elucidate the very nature of humanity. This inspired a new theatrical production that consumed the CLF Arts Cafe in 2023.
This promenade performance incorporated the full spectrum of senses to immerse the audience in the poetic scenes created by Dante. The audience took on the role of Dante, led by Virgil, a narrator who guided them through hell and, hopefully, to spiritual salvation. Each of the nine acts represented the nine levels of hell. A combination of live action and multimedia was used to explore both the themes of the original text and the relevance of Dante’s idea of hell today.
About My Process
Using the original text as a foundation, I collaborated with three writers to create vignettes, each based on a circle of hell. After drafting the script, I brought in actors to perform read through in order to refine and edit the scenes for a promenade setting. Once we secured the CLF building in Peckham Rye, I designed an audience journey that leveraged the post-industrial factory setting and brought in a cast of 25 to bring the script to life. Despite challenges with resources and an intense heat wave during opening performances, we successfully reached our ticket and throughput goals.