2015 marks the 750th anniversary of Dante’s birth. To celebrate, we have been trying to record his complete works for LibriVox. This includes a dramatic reading of the Divine Comedy, with a host of volunteers playing different roles. The casting was gender-neutral and we were discouraged from having the same voice in the same or neighbouring canto. I have recorded 20 parts for it:
1) Plutus. A demon with one line of gibberish: “Papé Satàn, papé Satàn aleppe.” Apparently, I show fluency in demon-tongue. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing! (Inferno 7)
Plutus
2) Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti. The father of Dante’s friend and fellow poet, Guido, is trapped in a flaming tomb as punishment for heresy. He asks after his son and is upset when Dante hesitates. Dante had been among the councillors who had exiled Guido from Florence. By the time he was writing, Guido had died, but not by the dramatic date of the poem, which is set at Eastertide 1300. No wonder Dante hesitated what to reply! I hope my performance arouses pity for the worried father. (Inferno 10)
3) Giacomo da Sant’Andrea. A spendthrift who is chased by hounds, and who crashes through bushes containing the spirits of suicides. He accuses another sinner (Lano) of cowardice. One line, out of breath. (Inf. 13)
4) Alessio Interminei of Lucca. A flatterer wallowing in so much human excrement that it is impossible to tell if he has a tonsure or not. I hope my very smelly method acting pays off and nobody will be able to tell, listening to it, whether I have a bald patch or not! (Inf. 18)
5) Vanni Fucci. A thief (who is happy for somebody else to take the blame) and blasphemer who, even in Hell, curses God. Bitten by a snake he turns to ashes and then comes back to human form. Taunts Dante with a prediction that the White Guelfs (Dante’s faction) are about to be exiled from Florence. Nasty piece of work. (Inf. 24-5)
6) Guido da Montefeltro. A soldier who turned monk. He burns in a flame as punishment for evil counsel. Pope Boniface VIII (whom Dante hates) asked for Guido’s advice in fighting the Colonna family. Having been promised absolution for his sins, Guido advises promising an amnesty and betraying it. At his death St Francis appeared to claim his soul but a Black Cherub (a demon) pointed out that absolution for sin cannot be made in advance and claimed the soul for Hell. (Inf. 27)
St Francis and a demon vie for the soul of Guido da Montefeltro
7) Sinon. The guy who tricked the Trojans into taking a large wooden horse full of Greek soldiers inside their walls is suffering from a fever that makes his skin smoke. He bickers with a counterfeiter – each think the other’s treachery was worse. (Inf. 30)
8) Nimrod. A giant who speaks one line of gobbledegook. According to post-Biblical legend, Nimrod commissioned the Tower of Babel. I was warned about doing a voice so close to another (Sinon) but pointed out that I would be doing Sinon in a human-sounding voice. (Inf. 31)
To read about my roles in Purgatory click here.
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