Dante's Fabulously Divine Comedy

by Daniel Emlyn-Jones

In this camp and comic drag-show adaptation of Dante’s Divine Comedy, the afterlife is inhabited by drag queens. Roman poet Virgil is a drag queen named Jill, forced to limbo-dance for all eternity. Heavenly maiden Beatrice longs to be reunited with her mortal lover Dante, so she begrudgingly descends from paradise to the inferno and persuades Jill to give him the grand tour. It turns out Dante’s feelings for...

In this camp and comic drag-show adaptation of Dante’s Divine Comedy, the afterlife is inhabited by drag queens. Roman poet Virgil is a drag queen named Jill, forced to limbo-dance for all eternity. Heavenly maiden Beatrice longs to be reunited with her mortal lover Dante, so she begrudgingly descends from paradise to the inferno and persuades Jill to give him the grand tour. It turns out Dante’s feelings for Beatrice are not as clear cut as she had hoped, and The Princess of Darkness, Mistress of the Inferno, further muddies the waters by attempting to seduce him. The Queen of Queens, Mistress of Paradise, is all set to conclude matters deus ex machina style, but it turns out that she too has a few surprises up her sleeve...

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Dante's Fabulously Divine Comedy

Recommended by

  • Paul Braverman: Dante's Fabulously Divine Comedy by Daniel Emlyn-Jones
    “

    I was fortunate enough to hear this read at the Valdez Theatre Conference. Emlyn-Jones brilliantly intersects Dante with drag-show, giving us a glorious romp through Dante's circles. This play goes from zero to one-hundred in the first minute, and keeps its foot on the gas pedal until the final curtain. Designers will have an absolute field day with set, costume, movement, make-up and lighting. This play will be a hit wherever/whenever it is performed.

    I was fortunate enough to hear this read at the Valdez Theatre Conference. Emlyn-Jones brilliantly intersects Dante with drag-show, giving us a glorious romp through Dante's circles. This play goes from zero to one-hundred in the first minute, and keeps its foot on the gas pedal until the final curtain. Designers will have an absolute field day with set, costume, movement, make-up and lighting. This play will be a hit wherever/whenever it is performed.

    ”
  • Philip Middleton Williams: Dante's Fabulously Divine Comedy by Daniel Emlyn-Jones
    “

    Even in a staged reading at the Valdez Theatre Conference 2026, this hilarious camp show screams "Yasss Queen!" Daniel Emlyn-Jones takes us on a fun-and-pun filled tour of the afterlife with all the characters you know and live from Dante's story and drags - in the best meaning of the word - along with him. The imagination goes wild and the sharp tongues lash out in rapid hell-fire energy. I cannot wait to see this fully done up in costume and lights. Bring it to Florida!

    Even in a staged reading at the Valdez Theatre Conference 2026, this hilarious camp show screams "Yasss Queen!" Daniel Emlyn-Jones takes us on a fun-and-pun filled tour of the afterlife with all the characters you know and live from Dante's story and drags - in the best meaning of the word - along with him. The imagination goes wild and the sharp tongues lash out in rapid hell-fire energy. I cannot wait to see this fully done up in costume and lights. Bring it to Florida!

    ”
The Princess of Darkness: Infernal drag queen (any gender).
Jill: Deceased Roman poet Virgil and drag queen (any gender)
Beatrice: Heavenly drag queen (any gender).
Dante Alighieri: Medieval Italian poet (man)
The Queen of Queens: Supreme drag queen (any gender).