The Spectators’ Odyssey - o dell’Inferno

TO Live and DopoLavoro Teatrale present the World Premiere of The Spectators’ Odyssey – o dell’Inferno developed with the support of TO Live in association with the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund

The Spectators’ Odyssey – o dell’Inferno is an immersive, contemporary multimedia theatrical experience that takes the audience behind the scenes of two of Toronto’s most iconic buildings, making the audience the central character in the narrative they experience.

Inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey and Dante’s Inferno, the terms ‘Odyssey’ and ‘Inferno’ are used as metaphors and re-imagined to be two distinct epic journeys for the audience: BLUE and RED. In BLUE, audiences voyage through the remote parts of the backstage areas of the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, rediscovering what it means to be a “spectator”. In RED, audiences venture through the streets of the surrounding neighbourhood, finding themselves inside the St. Lawrence Market after-hours – a place of exchange where worlds meet through stories.

The project borrows the great sense of wonder of the poems that inspired it, with each audience member becoming a modern-day Ulysses and Dante: a voyager. The show is deeply enriched by the participation of its audience as it unfolds, generating a sense of community among the spectators as they transform from audience into player and become the centre of the narrative.

With a limited audience of eight with timed entrances, The Spectators’ Odyssey o dell ‘Inferno is perfectly conceived to not only meet the challenges of live performance during a pandemic, but also offer a tantalizing and innovative way in which to experience theatre today. Created by Daniele Bartolini, artistic director of the internationally acclaimed, Italian-Canadian company DopoLavoro Teatrale (DLT), The Spectators’ Odyssey – o dell’ Inferno is a natural evolution of the internationally acclaimed “audience specific” theatre work by DLT in Canada, England, India and most recently at La Biennale di Venezia Teatro in 2020.

Produced by DopoLavoro Teatrale and TO Live in association with the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund.
Developed with support from TO Live, Canada Council for the Arts, Villa Charities Inc., Istituto Italiano di Cultura, and the Embassy of Italy in Ottawa.

Image by Valeria Mangiò: Concept Sailing Ship In Storm.