All residents in Matera and Basilicata are invited to participate in an Open Call for the dramatisation of “Purgatorio”, which will take place at Sala Levi of Palazzo Lanfranchi in Matera on 10th December 2018 at 7 p.m.. This open call is for the second part of ‘The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, PURGATORIO’ and is a Matera 2019 project co-produced by Fondazione Ravenna Manifestazioni / Ravenna Festival in collaboration with Teatro delle Albe / Ravenna Teatro and the art directors Marco Martinelli and Ermanna Montanari.

Martinelli and Montanari have taken on the challenge to stage “The Divine Comedy”, Dante’s masterpiece that gave birth to the Italian Language. The key idea is to interpret the work by drawing inspiration from medieval passion plays and Majakovskij’s revolutionary mass theatre in which the city is the stage and the citizens are the protagonists.

The work will involve the whole city and the audience will journey through this otherworldly kingdom. Each citizen will play the part of Dante. The first part of the project titled “INFERNO”, was produced in Ravenna in 2017 and involved the collaborators and the actors of Teatro delle Albe as well as one thousand citizens of Ravenna and many people from several Italian and foreign towns.

The performance “PURGATORIO” taken from the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri will be premiered as part of the cultural programme of Matera 2019 from 17th May to 2nd June.

This project offers a not-to-be missed opportunity to participate in international meetings, to meet and build up relationships with local artists and companies of actors, in particular with IAC Centro Arti Integrate of Matera, but also with schools, universities and associations.

It will be an open-to-all call having no specific requirements in terms of number, age, language, skills, residence or nationality. It will be a big “workshop” involving volunteer citizens at various levels of participation who will carry out several tasks including: singing, dancing/movement, group acting, setting up the scenery and making costumes. Marco Martinelli and Ermanna Montanari will be the artistic directors of this workshop, which will be held by the actors of “Teatro delle Albe”.

There will also be other experts/masters such as Edoardo Sanchi (scenery), Paola Giorgi (costumes), Luigi Ceccarelli (music), the Matera 2019 team and the Teatro delle Albe who will all take part in the project. Each citizen can choose the tasks they prefer and participate in the relative activities depending on their availability .

During this second part, information about participation, registration and the next steps to follow for the setting up of the performance event will be provided.

To participate in “PURGATORIO – Open Call for the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri” send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

It is an opportunity to have an experience of collective life in which participation evolves in artistic production.