Heaven and hell on stage

Laurel Stowell | 28th July 2010

Smoke, snakes and darkness in hell, angels, hymns and light in heaven - one of the greatest pieces of Catholic literature is to be staged by a Wanganui school.

Making Dante's Divine Comedy, a long mediaeval poem, accessible to a modern audience was a challenge, Father Michael Fortin said. "It's a lofty work, but the adaptation takes into consideration that it's difficult for an audience to sit down and listen to poetry."

He decided to use light and darkness, smoke, noise and fast-moving scenes to capture the attention of the audience in the first half of the play.

The Paradiso second half will be full of light and incorporate angels, polyphonic hymns and Gregorian chant. All 52 senior pupils at St Dominic's College are involved in the production.

It takes place in the Wanganui Girls' College Hall on August 20 and is open to the public - a first for the Society of St Pius X school.

Dante wrote the play during his exile from Florence, from 1300 until his death in 1321.
The story line takes Dante, guided by Virgil, through the circles of hell and into purgatory. Then he's guided through heaven by Beatrice, the girl he fell in love with as a child. At the highest point in heaven he sees God.

Virgil, the first guide, stands for natural virtue and reason, but cannot hope to get to heaven "because he never knew our Lord", Father Fortin said. Beatrice represents goodness, virtue and beauty and is able to take the pilgrim Dante all the way. Father Fortin chose the play for its intellectual and moral value to the students.

The St Dominic's adaptation has two scenes, each an hour long, with an intermission between them. The first deals with hell, and makes a reference to purgatory, and the second with heaven. The school has been helped in its first major production by Phillippa Van De Steeg, a speech and drama teacher who is the sister of a student. The atmospheric lighting will be done by the experienced Anthony "Indy" Magnoli.

There will be a door charge.