The project was conceived, scripted and rehearsed through the collaborative efforts of nineteen performers, two music composers and three choreographers. Based on Atkins’ adaptation, the performers created scenarios and vignettes illustrating the strata of the Inferno. Dante pulled no punches in the original 13th century poem, writing it entirely in the vernacular Italian language (instead of Latin) and populating hell with the corrupt popes, politicians and merchants of his own time; subjecting them to ironic and satirical punishments. It was meant to be a poem for the people, not the learned few; a dark comedy with a poignant message.

In this adaptation, the audience is lead through hell by two entrepreneurial tour guides who offer a “walking tour of the underworld” while up-selling the audience on merchandise. As the evening progresses, the tables turn and the audience must fend for itself, guided by a heavenly angel through the City of Dis. In the end, evil is contemplated through the lens of the modern, contemporary world, bringing hell closer to home. Dante’s Inferno: Living Hell played for two weeks in Brisbane’s historic Old Museum.

Read this interview with Time Off Magazine about the production (find it on page 41). Or browse the photo gallery below.

Production Credits:

Stephen Atkins – Director
AlanJohn Jones – Designer
Ben Hughes – Lighting Designer
Dale Hubbard – Composer
Dale Thorburn – Choreographer
Hannah Myers – Producer, Performer
Anthony Wade-Cooper – Stage Manager
Allie Colclough – Technical Manager
Louise Hales – Front-Of-House Manager
Tamara Poole – Education Liaison Officer
Jane Cameron – Performer
Jill Guerts – Performer
Krystal Hart – Performer
Annabelle Winkler – Performer
Morgan Aldrich – Intern Director/Performer
Gaby New – Intern Director/Performer
Francis Walton – Intern Director/Performer
Mel Budd – Performer
James Casey – Performer
Branden Munyan – Performer
Andrea Jenkins – Performer
Xani Kennedy – Performer
Earl Kim – Performer
Amanda Laing – Performer
Sam Plummer – Performer
Lia Reutens – Performer
Martin Ventura – Performer
Frances Worster – Performer

The project was the result of many months of face to face and online collaboration between Atkins and Woods, culminating in a week-long creative development process in Dec 2007 before the piece went into rehearsal. The challenges of doing a promenade piece of interactive theatre, relying heavily on technology and integration of live and filmed segments rested on the shoulders of an extensive and talented team of creatives.

Sub Con Warrior 2.0 launches the audience members into a virtual reality networked to their subconscious minds. This Sub Con network becomes the platform from which the ‘corporation’ demonstrates its new fight game, Sub Con Warrior 2.0. But something goes wrong during the demo, the artificial intelligence, known as “Game Engine” begins to learn from the moral choices of its human opponents and adopts a ruthless killer instinct.

It is left to the audience and their four noble warriors to find their way out of, and survive, an ever-changing landscape inspired by video games of all genres.