Dante’s epic poem meets traditional Korean opera

A more-than-seven-century-old epic poem will be recreated as an opera with Korean touches. The National Theater of Korea will cast an Eastern light onto “The Divine Comedy,” written by Italian poet and politician Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). It will present a stage version of Dante’s masterpiece, adding a very Korean element: pansori, a traditional Korean opera, music and story-telling style. The show will run from November 2 to 9, with no performance on November 4, at the National Theater near Namsan Mountain in Seoul. The epic poem was written by Dante while he was in exile after losing political power. The masterpiece consists of 100 cantos, dissecting Dante’s one-week journey through the three realms of the dead: Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. As the protagonist of his poem, Dante has only one reason to embark on such a long and tortuous journey: to see again his ideal woman, Beatrice, in his final destination, Paradise.

This great piece of literature will now be turned into a stage version combined with an orchestra, pansori, mime and classical music at the National Theater of Korea for its seven-day run.

“This production looks mainly at the life path of the protagonist, who at first insists he has never sinned, then admits his sins after soul-searching and undergoing a spiritual transformation as he traverses through his journey,” explained producer Han Tae-sook at a press conference. 

“As it features performers from the National Changgeuk Company of Korea, actors and mime artists, as well as musical, pansori and opera performers, I am sure this rendition will maximize the drama displayed in Dante’s written work as it will be meshed with the unique sound of pansori, our traditional musical heritage and the artistic stage effects.” 


The play begins on the night before Good Friday in 1300, when thirty-five year-old Dante, lost deep in a dark, shadowed wood, encounters the poet Virgil. He is led by the poet and they begin their journey through the underworld with the goal of finding Beatrice, for whom he has longed throughout his life. 

They enter Hell on the first leg of the journey, where each and every sin is mercilessly punished. There, Dante, who claims he has never sinned, experiences fear and pity as he watches all the torments of Hell inflicted on sinful souls, such as a couple whose too-strong love and lust has swirled them down to self-destruction.