Chicago Reader
June 19, 2008
by Zac Thompson
Walt McGough's lively, ambitious new play aims to retell Dante's Inferno using just one actor. It's set in the present but mirrors Dante's poem in outline: a young man journeys through the underworld, encountering several of its unfortunate inhabitants along the way and hoping, ultimately, to catch a glimpse of his dearly departed Beatrice. With its parade of colorfully disagreeable characters, McGough's hell at times resembles Lewis Carroll's Wonderland more than Dante's nine circles. But what he gets exactly right is the poet's poignant and impossible wish to reunite with a loved one irrevocably lost. Playing all the parts, Matt Fletcher shows an engaging versatility as the various sinners, but is most compelling as the lost and heartsore hero.
Highly Recommended
