"The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri

“Comedy” (“Commedia” in the Italian) was the original title of Dante’s work. The term “Divine” (“Divina” in the Italian) was added later by Boccaccio.

Dante (full pen name: Dante Alighieri, c. 1265-1321) wrote the “Divine Comedy” in the early years of the 14th century; it likely took him around 15 years to complete. It is an epic narrative poem comprising 14,233 rhyming eleven-syllable lines, divided into three parts: “Inferno”, “Purgatorio”, and “Paradiso”.

In the “Divine Comedy”, Dante describes his fantastical journey through the underworld in the first person. The journey lasts seven days (just like the biblical creation myth) and is supposed to have begun on 7 April 1300, a little before Easter. Dante’s guides and companions on this journey are Virgil and Beatrice – the latter likely referring to his lifelong beloved, Beatrice Portinari (1266-1290).

An emblematic work of medieval Europe, and one of the most influential texts in the development of both the Italian language and human thought, the “Divine Comedy” – a poem that is both allegorical and autobiographical, and open to multiple meanings and perspectives – constitutes an awe-inspiring overview of the cosmological and Christian beliefs that held sway in Dante’s time: in the twilight of the Middle Ages, and at the dawn of the Renaissance (late 13th / early 14th centuries).

The acclaimed collective VASISTAS (meaning “skylight” in French) was founded in 2005, and comprises artists of various nationalities who work between Greece and France, centering on Athens and Marseille. Their work “Spectacle” was awarded a New Artists’ Honorary Distinction by the Hellenic Association of Theater and Performing Arts Critics in 2011. One of the group’s founding members, Ariane Labed, won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 67th Venice Film Festival for her performance in Athina Rachel Tsangari’s “Attenberg” (2010), while the director and actress Argyro Chioti was awarded the Eleftheria Sapountzi Award in 2013 for her directorial and artistic work.

VASISTAS’ most recent production was the work “APOLOGIES 4 & 5” by Efthimis Filippou, directed by Argyro Chioti, and presented at the Peiraios 260 venue as part of the 2016 Athens & Epidaurus Festival.

Argyro Chioti first collaborated with Onassis Stegi in 2013, as part of a tribute to Dimitris Dimitriadis, overseeing the direction of his work “Phaethon”, which took the form of a staged reading. She also took part in the 2014 Youth Theater Festival, directing the play “I’m Spilling My Heart Out Here” by Stacey Gregg, performed by students from the 43rd College of Athens. In 2014, Argyro Chioti and VASISTAS presented Efthimis Filippou’s first work for the stage – "Emata" ("Bloods") – at Onassis Stegi.

Friday 28 April

After-performance talk with Argyro Chioti & VASISTAS Theater Group
Moderated by: Grigoris Ioannidis, theater critic and assistant professor of Drama Studies, University of Athens

Wednesday 3 & Thursday 4 May

Workshop with Argyro Chioti & VASISTAS Theater Group

Reservation and more Info: T: 213 017 8002 Email: education@onassis.org