Divine Comedy

Opening night December 2^nd 2019, National Museum of Contemporary History, Ljubljana
Running time 60–70 minutes. No intermission.
For the first 45 minutes, visitors are blindfolded.

Translators Alojz Gradnik, Andrej Capuder

Author Director and Scent designer Barbara Pia Jenič
Sound designer Peter Penko
Set designers of Paradise Barbara Pia Jenič, Nataša Skušek
Advertisement copy in the 8th circle Barbara Pia Jenič, Peter Penko
Motivational speech in the 8th circle Vesna Hauschild
Professional consultant dr. Igor Areh

Cocreators and sensorial guides 
Vesna Hauschild, Barbara Pia Jenič, Nataša Skušek, Luna J. Šribar, Liza Šimenc, Janja Vranjek (2019)
Vesna Hauschild, Barbara Pia Jenič, Jerica Majerhold Ostrovršnik, Janja Vranjek (2020)
Voice of Dante Alighieri (audio recording) Tomaž Gubenšek
Voice of Beatrice (audio recording) Barbara Pia Jenič
Voice of the commercial in the 8th circle (audio recording) Barbara Pia Jenič
Voice of the motivational speech in the 8th circle (audio recording) Vesna Hauschild
The image of Beatrice in Paradise Janja Vranjek/Liza Šimenc

Instructions for attending the event

1. The performance runs between 60 and 70 minutes, for the first 45 minutes you will be blindfolded. 
2. Persons with diagnosed mental disorders and persons who suffer from severe anxiety or have trust issues are advised against attending, as they can find the first part antriggering. 
3. Persons under influence of drugs or alcohol will not be admitted.
4. Due to the use of scents in the production, we ask you to not wear scents of your own.
5. All outer clothes, including handbags and phones must be left in wardrobe lockers outside; only carry the key to the locker during the event. 
6. Wear comfortable shoes. We advise strongly against high heels. 
7. The production is only suitable for adults.
8. This is a theatre performance in which difficult topics are created in a playful, symbolic and sensorial way. 
9. Although you might at times feel that you are dirty, nobody will in any way hurt or stain neither you nor your clothes. 
10. There are no actors in the performance, the spectators are the main protagonists, so there are no curtain calls. 
11. You can leave the Inferno, Purgatory or Paradise at any point and thus conclude your sensorial journey whenever you want. 
12. Because of our research and development of sensorial theatre in Slovenia and the world, we are kindly asking you to spend some time to share with us your impressions and comments at the end of the show. Thank you. 
     

On a sensorial journey in the 21st century, we enter into the concept: "I think, therefore I am."
The starting point for the journey and context of The Divine Comedy is the placebo concept as reassessed by the quantum physics. It’s about the thought that our brain produces, forming hell, purgatory or paradise right here and now. To experience all three states of being, we do not need to die, as we are already experiencing the worst right here and now. This is also the main reason why Divina Commedia is still relevant for this time – not the idea of the afterlife itself, but the idea of being here and now. We are all well aware of all three states of mind, within ourselves and in the world. Hell, Purgatory and Paradise are states of consciousness. That is why Dante talks about the afterlife because consciousness is supposedly the only intangible substance that goes with us into the afterlife. And depending on what state of consciousness we will be at the end of life (how many sins or good deeds we will be held accountable for), this will be our existence after death. 
But even here it is not a matter of hell, purgatory or paradise, it is a state of consciousness, in which the soul is located, and consequently our thoughts and actions. Divine Comedy thus leads us to purification from all the bad and the good in man. At the same time, its dramatic structure is conceived as a journey, which is very close to the performing methods of sensorial theatre. Moreover, in its rich picturesqueness of the various stages, circles, it offers tremendous potential for a sensorial experience. These are personal experiences, just like Virgil accompanied Dante’s imaginary journey in the 14th century.

About the director

Barbara Pia Jenič is the artistic leader and director of the Senzorium Institute, and a theatre director, a producer and an actress. From 1996 to 2004, she was an actress of the Spanish theatre Teatro de los sentidos, where she entered the world of sensorial theatre language and olfactory design under the artistic vision of Enrique Vargas. She has been developing sensorial methodology for twenty years, and applying its tools to stage performances for a last decade. In her artistic work, she explores various expressions of sensorial theatre language, develops sensorial methodology for cultural heritage, galleries, museums and opera. So far, she has directed 68 theatre plays and events and designed smells for 53 projects at home and abroad.