Nel mezzo del teatrin di nostra vita. Pulcinella nell'Inferno, Purgatorio e Paradiso delle guarattelle (In the middle of the puppet booth of our life. Pulcinella in Hell, in Purgatory and in the guarattelle Paradise) is a play written by Bruno Leone in 2021 for the festival La Macchina dei Sogni organised by Mimmo Cuticchio in Palermo. The 38th edition of this festival was entitled “Sulle vie dell’inferno” (On the paths to Hell) and was dedicated to The Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia), commemorating the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death.

In Leone’s play, quotations of verses, of characters and of events from The Divine Comedy are intertwined with Neapolitan references and with respected figures from Naples: footballer Diego Maradona, the souls from Purgatory, and three of the fifty-six patron saints of the city. If the guarattelle’s Hell is closer to Dante’s Inferno, the Purgatory and the Paradise are rather inspired by Neapolitan representations.

In a dark forest, Pulcinella encounters Dante. To get out of the forest, he will have to cross Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Dante accompanies him in Hell, where Pulcinella meets Caronte (Charon) and fights Cerbero (Cerberus) and several devils. Lucifero (Lucifer) himself comes to drive Pulcinella out of Hell. He can now access Purgatory, where he is accompanied by Diego Maradona. There, he meets several souls that ask him to pray for them: the souls of a soldier, a priest, a prostitute and a guappo (local thug) killed by Pulcinella. He finally meets Death who plays tricks on him using skulls. After defeating Death, Pulcinella can access Paradise, where he is accompanied by Beatrice. In Paradise, Pulcinella wants to eat but San Gennaro explains that holy souls do not eat. As an exception, San Vincenzo Ferrer gives him a meal and Sant’Antonio Abate brings him a cup of coffee. At the end of the play, Pulcinella dances with Beatrice. With the journey over, Pulcinella now looks for his true Paradise: his lover Teresina.