Intellect of love. Dante and the women

Intellect of Love. Dante and the women, staged at the Vittoria Theater and dedicated to the female characters of the Divine Comedy, directed by Gabriele Vacis, with Lella Costa is certainly a very original show.

The story, written by Gabriele Vacis and Lella Costa, chooses some of the women featured in the Comedy, making them speak directly to the public, in an almost confident way, from an out-of-the-ordinary perspective. First of all there is of course Beatrice who embodies the poet's ideal of pure love, an angelic woman of the Dolce Stil Novo; Beatrice accompanies him to the Paradise and takes on a role of spiritual guide on the path to salvation.

Then we find Francesca, protagonist together with Paolo of the 5th Chant of Hell, who explains to us why Dante placed her in that part of his poem together with his beloved. There is also Taibe, the prostitute of Malebolge, whom we find in the 18th Chant of Hell, forced to flounder in manure, where flatterers are punished. And finally, among others, also Gemma Donati, the poet's wife, mother of his children, who explains how she manages to live with her husband's ideal of love.

In the play, the narration of the protagonists of the poet's artistic and even private life is always suffused with a subtle irony, being faithful to the true historian and far from any parody.

The show is the result of a Mismaonda co-production and Centro d'Arte Contemporanea Teatro Carcano in collaboration with RSI - Radio Svizzera italiana.

Photo credits: Vittoria Theater official site