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Did you know..?
…that the title Midway Along The Journey Of Our Life is inspired from Dante’s Inferno? It comes from the first canto of La Divina Commedia?
Show opens on this Thursday, August 8! Get tickets here

Doré’s engraving of The Divine Comedy
Here’s the whole first canto:
The Divine Comedy : Inferno: Canto I
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, ché la diritta via era smarrita.Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte che nel pensier rinova la paura!Tant’ è amara che poco è più morte; ma per trattar del ben ch’i’ vi trovai, dirò de l’altre cose ch’i’ v’ho scorte. Io non so ben ridir com’ i’ v’intrai,10 Ma poi ch’i’ fui al piè d’un colle giunto, guardai in alto e vidi le sue spalle Allor fu la paura un poco queta, E come quei che con lena affannata, così l’animo mio, ch’ancor fuggiva, Poi ch’èi posato un poco il corpo lasso, Ed ecco, quasi al cominciar de l’erta, e non mi si partia dinanzi al volto, Temp’ era dal principio del mattino, mosse di prima quelle cose belle;40 l’ora del tempo e la dolce stagione; Questi parea che contra me venisse Ed una lupa, che di tutte brame questa mi porse tanto di gravezza E qual è quei che volontieri acquista, tal mi fece la bestia sanza pace, Mentre ch’i’ rovinava in basso loco, Quando vidi costui nel gran diserto, Rispuosemi: «Non omo, omo già fui, Nacqui sub Iulio, ancor che fosse tardi,70 Poeta fui, e cantai di quel giusto Ma tu perché ritorni a tanta noia? «Or se’ tu quel Virgilio e quella fonte «O de li altri poeti onore e lume, Tu se’ lo mio maestro e ’l mio autore, Vedi la bestia per cu’ io mi volsi; «A te convien tenere altro vïaggio», ché questa bestia, per la qual tu gride, e ha natura sì malvagia e ria, Molti son li animali a cui s’ammoglia,100 Questi non ciberà terra né peltro, Di quella umile Italia fia salute Questi la caccerà per ogne villa, Ond’ io per lo tuo me’ penso e discerno ove udirai le disperate strida, e vederai color che son contenti A le quai poi se tu vorrai salire, ché quello imperador che là sù regna, In tutte parti impera e quivi regge; E io a lui: «Poeta, io ti richeggio130 che tu mi meni là dov’ or dicesti, Allor si mosse, e io li tenni dietro.
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Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost.Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say What was this forest savage, rough, and stern, Which in the very thought renews the fear.So bitter is it, death is little more; But of the good to treat, which there I found, Speak will I of the other things I saw there. I cannot well repeat how there I entered,10 But after I had reached a mountain’s foot, Upward I looked, and I beheld its shoulders, Then was the fear a little quieted And even as he, who, with distressful breath, So did my soul, that still was fleeing onward, After my weary body I had rested, And lo! almost where the ascent began, And never moved she from before my face, The time was the beginning of the morning, At first in motion set those beauteous things;40 The hour of time, and the delicious season; He seemed as if against me he were coming And a she-wolf, that with all hungerings She brought upon me so much heaviness, And as he is who willingly acquires, E’en such made me that beast withouten peace, While I was rushing downward to the lowland, When I beheld him in the desert vast, He answered me: “Not man; man once I was, ‘Sub Julio’ was I born, though it was late,70 A poet was I, and I sang that just But thou, why goest thou back to such annoyance? “Now, art thou that Virgilius and that fountain “O, of the other poets honour and light, Thou art my master, and my author thou, Behold the beast, for which I have turned back; “Thee it behoves to take another road,” Because this beast, at which thou criest out, And has a nature so malign and ruthless, Many the animals with whom she weds,100 He shall not feed on either earth or pelf, Of that low Italy shall he be the saviour, Through every city shall he hunt her down, Therefore I think and judge it for thy best Where thou shalt hear the desperate lamentations, And thou shalt see those who contented are To whom, then, if thou wishest to ascend, Because that Emperor, who reigns above, He governs everywhere, and there he reigns; And I to him: “Poet, I thee entreat,130 Thou wouldst conduct me there where thou hast said, Then he moved on, and I behind him followed. |
Midway Along The Journey Of Our Life >>Summerworks
TheatreRUN is proud to co-produce Midway Along The Journey Of Our Life, a new piece by Italian theatre artist Daniele Bartolini.

photo by lacey creighton
Daniele Bartolini is a founding member of D.L.T. Teatro in Florence, Italy, a company known for work that is political, sensually immersive and challenging to traditional audience/performer relationships. Daniele was last seen in Toronto in TheatreRUN’s Shostakovich, Or Three Days In Red,
Joining Daniele is an international production team made of Danya Buonastella (Toronto), and two other founding members of D.L.T. Teatro: Chiara Fontanella (Florence) and Matteo Ciardi (Florence).
About the Show:
Designed for one spectator at a time, the piece proposes to transform the audience into performer: you are asked to put on a costume and to embark on a journey as the protagonist of a mysterious story. You are led through the alleyways of Toronto which transform into an urban labyrinth, populated by ambiguous characters. You are guided by a voice, which helps (and playfully confuses) you, as you search for the solution to this enigmatic game.
As this piece is for one audience member at a time we are urging people to book early. Below are showtimes and a link to tickets.
Enjoy! Grazie!
- GET TICKETS HERE
- Thursday August 8,2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 10:30pm
- Friday August 9, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 10:30pm
- Saturday August 10, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 10:30pm
- Sunday August 11, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 10:30pm
- Monday August 12, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm, 10pm
- Wednesday August 14, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 10:30pm
- Thursday August 15, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 10:30pm
- Friday August 16, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 10:30pm
- Saturday August 17, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, 10:30pm
- Sunday 18, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm
HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF PREVIOUS D.L.T. Teatro creations from Italy: