Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theater: The Divine Comedy. Variations

Trials and errors, running time: 2 h, prime May 22, 2024
Ticket price range 3000—30000 rub.

Author —
Director — Yury Titov
Designer — , Yevgeniya Panfilova, Yury Lebedev
Translator — Mikhail Lozinsky
Choreographer —
Ass. director — Maria Kozyar, Maria Bessonova
Music designer — Nikolai Orlovsky, Anna Baydenger, Marina Raku, Aleksander Borisov
Consultant — Anna Meleshko, Maria Kozyar

Upcoming Performances

November, 13, 19:00

December, 1, 19:00

The greatest work, the crown of medieval literature — Dante Alighieri's poem, to which only superlatives are applicable (large-scale, titanic, great); the comedy, which has earned the epithet “Divine“ from descendants in recognition of its perfection, is performed at arm's length in the Fomenko Workshop, in the space of the Old Stage, where the boundaries between the “hall” and the „stage” are are conditional, and the audience actually finds itself inside the story being played out.

By placing the actors and the audience in a single space, elongated like a Gothic temple, the creators of the play take us back to the times of medieval mysteries, where the biblical story seems to be happening before our eyes, lived here and now. Here there is Good and Evil, Sin and Repentance, and there are questions that, in the course of the theatrical performance, we all—actors and spectators—will ask. Together we are looking for answers.

Awards
The performance was nominated for the Golden Mask Award in the category “Best Performance. Drama Theater. Small Form”, 2025
Yuri Titov was nominated for the Golden Mask Award in the category “Best Director's Work. Drama Theater”, 2025
Martyn Stepanov was nominated for the Golden Mask Award in the nomination “Best work of a production designer. Drama Theater”, 2025.
Evgeniya Panfilova was nominated for the Golden Mask Award in the nomination “Best work of a costume designer. Drama Theater”, 2025.
Yuri Lebedev was nominated for the Golden Mask Award in the nomination"Best work of a lighting designer. Drama Theatre, 2025

One of my main ways of judging a production is to notice when I first look at my watch. With The Divine Comedy, it was different: I simply wanted the performance never to end. […] This is, without question, one of the best productions of the season — an absolute must-see! […] I think it will become one of the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop’s greatest hits.: Nikita Balashov, Revizor.ru

The Old Stage of the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop. The intimate Green Hall. And yet another production for which tickets are virtually impossible to get — the final performances of the season are completely sold out, and absolutely deservedly so, in my opinion. […] The Fomenko Workshop’s Divine Comedy is worth experiencing for the sheer unforgettable adventure of it — after all, you don’t get whirled through the circles of Hell every day. For me, it has become one of the most fascinating and powerful productions of the season.: Irina Petrovskaya-Mishina, Musecube

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” — no, that certainly does not apply to this production at the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop. On the contrary, the result is brilliant, powerful and sparkling — and, surprisingly enough considering the nature of the material, at times even genuinely funny. Better still, there is no real need to tackle Dante Alighieri’s monumental masterpiece before coming to the theatre. The creators have made every effort to make the production accessible to everyone.: Natalia Borisova, Porusski.me

The director seamlessly brings together drama, song, choreography and music. […] The icing on the cake is the superb acting. A multitude of images, a kaleidoscope of characters — and every single one of them is magnificent.: Irina Petrovskaya-Mishina, Musecube

Yuri Titov deserves our thanks for the elegance of the production, for the opportunity to hear Dante’s verse in Lozinsky’s translation, and for reminding us of Christian Europe. And also — one somehow wants to believe — for inspiring many spectators, once they get home, to take that weighty volume down from the shelf and finally read the great Florentine’s masterpiece in full.: Tatiana Mikhalskaya, Cabinet de l'art