Dante Alighieri built his idea of hell as a colossal conical structure that opens up underneath Jerusalem and reaches the centre of the Earth. He makes his descent steadily, accompanied by Virgil. The further away from Jerusalem, the further away from God and goodness.
A stone’s throw from Jerusalem, Iraq and what it represents in the American cultural portfolio is ravaged by conflict. A young soldier puts up a fight before he is honourably discharged. A cold-blooded killer who’s completely unbothered by having to make his way through piles of corpses, he is everything the States want in their ranks.
The season highlights the “resilience of the human spirit, our need for creative self-expression and the never-ending desire for emotional connection.”