Purgatorio is set in purgatory during the aftermath of the ancient Greek tragedy Medea, in which the namesake character avenges the betrayal of her husband by killing their children and the husband's new bride.
The possibility and even desire for repentance and redemption thus becomes the play's driving force. The motives for murderous sins and for suicide are provocatively explored with only two actors, known simply as 'man' and 'woman', the staging stripped bare and cut down the middle by one mesh curtain. The play is tough going and unrelenting in its exploration of such dark themes, and no resolution is ever reached — be wary, as Purgatorio lacks any frivolity or light relief whatsoever.
