Contributed by Dien Ho
Walt McGough, Dante Dies!! And Then Things Get Weird (2008)
“Seven hundred years ago, Dante Alighieri began writing one of the world’s most compelling and imaginative texts. This June, we respectfully screw it all up.
“Sideshow Theatre proudly presents the world premiere of Dante Dies!! (and then things get weird), a new play by Walt McGough oh-so-loosely based on Mr. Alighieri’s Inferno. Partway along the journey of his life, Dante finds himself mourning a lost love, feeling morose and, for some reason, in Hell. Trying to find his way home, he encounters incredible suffering, infernal bureaucracy, some sins of his own, and the aggressive attention of a competitive hot dog eater. Each step downward brings him closer to a personal reckoning with his own story, and maybe a chance to find an answer or two. Enacting the story single-handedly, versatile performer Matt Fletcher brings over fifteen different characters to life as he tracks Dante’s progress through the nine circles of Hell in this unexpected and epic adventure.” — Sideshow Theatre
Contributed by Patrick Molloy
Purgatory Pizza, Chicago, IL
“A LITTLE SLICE OF HEAVEN Is there pizza in the afterlife? Chris Peckat doesn’t pretend to know. But he does have a pretty strong hunch there’s pizza in purgatory–two types, actually. At Purgatory Pizza, he’ll be serving both a thin cracker-crust (made with Pabst Blue Ribbon) and a thicker pan crust (which he won’t deem deep dish), both of which will be topped with a blend of six cheeses. Situated next to Peckat’s barbecue-and-pinup-girls joint, Risque, Purgatory has been decked out with references to Dante’s Divine Comedy; Peckat has painted the floor of the place to look like hell and the ceiling to look like heaven. ‘I thought it was a fun theme to go with,’ he says. We’re not sure what’s so fun about death and hell, but as long as there’s pizza involved, we won’t complain.” –David Tamarkin, Time Out Chicago, April 1, 2008
Contributed by Charlie Russell-Schlesinger (Bowdoin, ’08)
