**1. Introduction: The Good Place and the Bad Place**

In early 2018, an interview by journalist Eugenio Scalfari of *La Repubblica* with Pope Francis (Scalfari 2018) made world-wide headlines: "The Holy Father, the Supreme Pontiff, the infallible definer of Catholic doctrine, said nope, he doesn't believe in hell", reported one newspaper in New Zealand (Lapsley 2018). "Pope Francis 'abolishes hell', saying souls of unrepentant sinners will simply disappear", stated the *Times* (Willan 2018). Although quickly contested by the Vatican (Parole del Papa 2018), the reported words of Pope Francis on hell not being an actual place seemed to complement what he had said regarding heaven during the general audience of 26 November 2014. More than a place, he affirmed, heaven "is a 'state' of soul in which our deepest hopes are fulfilled in superabundance and our being, as creatures and as children of God, reach their full maturity". There, he added, we "will finally be clothed in the joy, peace and love of God, completely, without any limit, and we will come face to face with Him!" (Francis 2014).

Today, perhaps, the suggestion that heaven and hell might not be actual places may correspond to widespread beliefs. Even those who believe in the existence of an afterlife can disagree as to what it might look like (Paradise Polled 2015), or as to how the good and bad places might even differ (as in the 2016–2019 Netflix series "The Good Place"). In 16th century Italy, however, there was no such confusion. Christians lived their lives knowing beyond doubt that the *dies irae*—the day of wrath—was imminent.<sup>1</sup> On that day, the world would dissolve into ashes; with universal dread the Book of

<sup>1</sup> In fact, according to Mirko Breitenstein, daily life during the Middle ages presented these two challenges: "to know that there are representatives from the other world, and to behave towards them adequately, that is, to search them or to flee

Consciences would be read out—judging the living and the dead; at that very moment "when the doomed can no more flee from the fires of misery", the sheep would be separated from the goats, the righteous would shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father, while the sinners would be cast into the fiery furnaces where there would be but weeping and gnashing of teeth (Dies Irae 1998).<sup>2</sup> If there were a choice between spending eternity dancing in a heavenly garden with the saints and angels, or being chewed to pieces by Satan,<sup>3</sup> most believers would try to behave in such a way as to be destined to the good place and not the bad.

Catholic religious orders that have education as part of their charism<sup>4</sup> have often used visions of the afterlife in theatre productions as vehicles to transmit a message of conversion, especially to those who, because of age or illiteracy, would not benefit as much from Scripture readings or complex sermons.<sup>5</sup> The goals of such plays set in heaven and hell, with angels and demons, the blessed and the damned—in addition to being visually entertaining, with special costumes, light and smoke effects—were meant to move a young or illiterate audience to follow or avoid the examples of others who now witnessed the experience of eternal triumph or suffering. These plays did not debate the existence of heaven and hell; in a Catholic setting, such an understanding of the afterlife was taken for granted. Rather, they indicated what kind of people, and sometimes, like Dante Alighieri, even which historical figures, would go there—and thus they educated the spectators on which role model to follow.

In this article, I will look at how such visions of the blessed and the damned, of heaven and hell, of angels and demons, were used in educational theatre in Italy both by Jesuit priests in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Salesian sisters in the 20th century. My goal is to discuss how the afterlife was used in theatre for the education of the youth during these centuries. I have chosen these two congregations in particular because both used theatre as an essential part of their educational system. Moreover, given that the Jesuits educated only young men, and the Salesian sisters only young women, the diverse blessed and damned souls that they stage allow us to discuss what virtues and vices young men and women were to pursue or avoid. Finally, the historical background for the Jesuit and Salesian plays that I will analyze will also help uncover a propagandistic layer of meaning in their representation of the afterworld, as the Jesuits' tragedies date to the years of the counter-reformation, while the Salesian sisters' plays belong to the era of the cold war. These two periods, although separated by some four centuries, include similarities of political and religious tensions, each creating a climate of disagreement and suspicion which gave rise to anti-protestant (in the counterreformation years) and anti-Communist (in the 20th century) beliefs and propaganda within Catholic religious institutions. Thus, the Jesuit and Salesian theatrical depictions of heaven and hell which I will discuss will provide insight into not only the religious understanding of the eras, but also the social and political concerns of the times in which they were composed, as well as the diverse educational messages transmitted to young men and young women.

#### **2. Jesuit Theatre and the Afterlife**

The connection between theatre and the Catholic church dates at least to the middle ages. In fact, the earliest recorded theatre in Western Europe appears to be the liturgical drama of the church,

from them [and] to develop strategies in order to avoid hell or to reach heaven within the Beyond after death" (Breitenstein 2018, p. 122).

<sup>2</sup> See, for example, Mt 13: 41–43.

<sup>3</sup> See, for example, the dance of the blessed in Beato Angelico's "Last Judgment", in the Museo Nazionale di San Marco of Florence, or the depiction of Satan chewing on the bodies of the damned in the "Last Judgment" by Coppo di Marcovaldo, in the Battistero di S. Giovanni in Florence. For early modern artistic depictions of heaven and hell, see Hughes (1968).

<sup>4</sup> In the New Testament, the word 'charism' refers to a spiritual gift given to individuals through divine grace (1Corinthians 12) or gifts of community leadership (Ephesians 4: 1–16). In Catholic theology, it has come to refer to the particular form of service to the church that a religious congregation has chosen or inherited from their founder (McFarland 2011).

<sup>5</sup> Several religious orders also used theatre as a vehicle for evangelization in missions abroad. See, for example, Isgrò (2015).

used to tell stories from the Bible, teach doctrine and encourage good behavior. In Italy, the oldest remaining dramatic text is a 12th century lament of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross, part of a passion play. Other genres that flourished in the middle ages were the lives of the saints and sacred plays (Medieval Drama 2000). Beginning about the time of the Renaissance, the educational purpose of Catholic theatre expanded from the churches and the squares to the schools of those religious orders that devoted themselves to the education of the youth. This form of Catholic educational theatre reached its maximum success with the plays performed in Jesuit schools in the 16th and 17th centuries.<sup>6</sup>

The Jesuits opened their first Italian college in Messina in 1548; by 1556, the year their founder Ignatius Loyola died, they had established some twenty colleges throughout Italy and several more throughout Europe. By 1773, when the order was suppressed, there were about 700 Jesuit schools in Europe and 100 in the rest of the world (Grendler 2014, p. 8; Sani 2009, pp. 33–34).<sup>7</sup>

Jesuit education was meant to confirm Catholic youth in their faith, confute heresy, and educate future leaders toward the good of society (Grendler 2014, p. 9). From nearly the beginning, theatre had a role in achieving these goals. "The Jesuits embraced theater as a didactic tool" explains Kevin Wetmore, "even as they feared its potential for immorality. They recognized its power, but worked to ensure the students seeing and performing the shows realized the drama was a means to an end, not an end in and of itself" (Wetmore 2016). Already by 1555, or possibly even earlier,<sup>8</sup> comedies and tragedies began to be performed in Jesuit schools (Oldani and Yanitelli 1999, p. 18),<sup>9</sup> bringing several benefits to both the students and the school. Students gained exercise in memory and Latin as well as acquiring virtue by emulation. In addition, since Jesuit performances on special occasions (the feast of a patron saint, or a prizegiving ceremony) were open not only to school members but to the entire community, theatre was as well "a form of advertising for Jesuit education, but also [ . . . ] a way of dialogue and alliance with civil and religious authorities" (Gallo 2018). Finally, the public nature of educational theatre helped the schools' prospects of gaining the support of wealthy donors (Sani 2009, p. 44). In 1556, in a letter to "Those Going to Begin the College in Prague by Commission", Ignatius himself encouraged the staging of plays "to aid and encourage the students and their families and to gain authority for the classes" (Ignatius of Loyola 2006, p. 636).

Because it was part of the Jesuits' educational system, theatre in the Jesuit tradition had to follow rules that were spelled out in the Ratio Studiorum of 1599: "Tragedies and comedies must be in Latin, and they must be very few. Their subjects should be religious and edifying, and there should be no interludes that are not in Latin and in good taste. No female characters or costumes may be used" (McCabe 1983, p. 14).<sup>10</sup> Thus, most Jesuit plays, at least for the first century, were in Latin. To facilitate understanding, a summary of the events of the play in the vernacular would often form the preface to the publication, be distributed to the audience or, in some cases, even read aloud before each act (Saulini 2002, p. 50). Plays were distinguished as either *ludi solemnes*, that is, tragedies performed

<sup>6</sup> The bibliography on Jesuit theatre is constantly growing, from the seminal article by Schnitzler (1952) to the more recent O'Malley (2013); Wetmore (2016) and Gallo (2018); see also Oldani and Yanitelli (1999); Sani (2009) and Zanlonghi (2004, 2006) for Jesuit theatre in Italy in particular.

Elissa Weaver has suggested that the Jesuits may have been aware of and possibly influenced by the tradition of theatre used in the education of young women in convents before the establishment of Jesuit schools (Weaver 2002, p. 4). Some of the theatrical works staged in convents in Renaissance Florence also had angels and devils as characters and referred to the joys or torment of the afterlife as consequences of the choices made during one's life. See for example Haraguchi (2009) on *Rappresentazione delle virtù e dei vizi* [Play of the Virtues and Vices] (1650) by Eleonora de Montalvo (1602–1659). Using the structure of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, this play shows one group taken by St Michael the archangel at the moment of their death, while the second—those that did not repent in time—is dragged away by Lucifer.

<sup>7</sup> Jesuit schools were open to males of all social classes "who could pass the courses and obey the rules"; there was no tuition fee to pay (O'Malley 2013, p. 59). The number of students would range from 100 to more than 2000 in individual schools, with an average of about 400 (McCabe 1983, pp. 8–9).

<sup>8</sup> McCabe states that there is evidence of plays being staged in Messina even in 1551 (1983, p. 38).

<sup>9</sup> Performance of drama in Latin by Plautus and Terence was already part of Humanistic schools in Florence (Black 2007, p. 164).

<sup>10</sup> These rules appear somewhat more relaxed than previous ones. For example, in the guidelines emitted in 1591, there was also a prohibition of women spectators (McCabe 1983, p. 13).

by senior students, or *ludi priores*, often comedies performed during the Carnival season by younger students (Oldani and Yanitelli 1999, p. 18). There was a tendency to not reuse a play which had already been staged in another college, hence the necessity to create always new works. William McCabe calculates the number of plays produced in Jesuit colleges "conservatively at nearly one hundred thousand" (McCabe 1983, p. 47). Schnitzler claims, however, that although plays may have been new, they may not have been entirely original, as they would follow a typical dramatic scheme and an ethical message which reflected the mission of the order, that is, the salvation of the souls: "every play was to exalt the blessing of a devout life and to inspire the audience with the Christian values of humility and piety" (Schnitzler 1952, p. 285). This common theme was used in a variety of theatrical genres, from tragedy to comedy, and pastoral play to pantomime, including even farce, opera and ballet (Schnitzler 1952, p. 286). In many cases, however, summaries are all that are left of the thousands of plays written for Jesuit theatre (Filippi 2001, pp. 13–15).<sup>11</sup>

Looking at the summaries of these numerous plays, it is evident that most would focus on the fight between good and evil, the battle between the two forces that vie for the human soul and the salvation of the world, as embodied on stage in the characters of Christ and Satan (Saulini 2002, p. 42). In fact, the aspect of Jesuit drama that I intend to explore here is the use of allegorical figures, be it the personification of ideas, or supernatural characters such as angels and demons. Such characters "were used in frequent dream scenes, in episodes showing magicians and sorcerers at work, in frightening images of Hell, or in dazzling visions of Heaven" (Schnitzler 1952, p. 286).<sup>12</sup> While on the stage itself human life developed, moving from town to forest, or fortress to port, "from heaven descend[ed] patron saints; angels and allegorical characters show[ed] themselves from the clouds; while from the abyss there suddenly emerge[d] demons, infernal spirits and magical prodigies" (Filippi 2001, p. 55).<sup>13</sup> Thus, the use of special effects on stage would deeply affect the spectators' senses, rendering more effective the educational message presented in the play even for illiterate audiences (Schnitzler 1952, p. 288).<sup>14</sup>

This "tendency to exhibit constant activity" on stage was certainly due to the needs and preferences of the audience (McCabe 1983, p. 64). But the reason behind such effects also connects to Jesuit spirituality: as part of the spiritual exercises, Ignatius Loyola instructed on the "application of the senses" to make one's meditation or contemplation more effective. In other words, as Wetmore (2016) summarizes, "the Ignatian *Spiritual Exercises* are a form of acting exercise in which one imagines oneself as a character in various biblical situations and explores what it means, physically, emotionally, and (most important) spiritually to experience it".

In the Jesuit tradition, therefore, theatre and spiritual exercises unite; theatre is, in fact, rooted in Ignatian spirituality. Consider the Spiritual Exercises themselves: in the fifth exercise of the first week of the Spiritual exercises, the exercitants are instructed to imagine themselves in hell. First, they should "see with the eyes of the imagination the huge fires and, so to speak, the souls within the bodies full of fire". Then, "hear the wailing, the shrieking, the cries, and the blasphemies against our Lord and all his saints". After seeing and hearing, the exercitants will have to employ their other three senses, as they are instructed to experience "the smoke, the sulphur, the filth and the rotting things [ . . . ] the bitter flavors of hell: tears, sadness and the worm of conscience [ . . . and finally] feel how the flames touch the souls and burn them" (Ignatius of Loyola 1991, p. 141).

In the second week of the exercises, on the fourth day, we see another image that will influence Jesuit theatre, as the exercitant is further invited to visualize "Christ, our supreme commander and

<sup>11</sup> See Filippi (2001, pp. 16–26) for a description and discussion of the remaining Jesuit theatre scenarios.

<sup>12</sup> Schnitzler (1952, p. 287) also points to another important characteristic of Jesuit theatre, which is the use of elaborate stage effects: scenic effects, trap doors, costumes, music, light and sound.

<sup>13</sup> All translations of quotations from the Italian and Latin in this article are mine. I am grateful to Dr. Christina Robertson of the University of Auckland for her help with the Latin texts.

<sup>14</sup> That is one of the reasons why Jesuits used theatre with such great success in their missions abroad (Schnitzler 1952, p. 285) and within Italy as well (Selwyn 2004, pp. 211–18).

Lord" and "Lucifer, the mortal enemy of our human nature"; each wants all humans to militate under his standard.<sup>15</sup> The images invoked in the exercise present a battlefield, in which both commanders prepare their armies.<sup>16</sup> The section that is relevant to Jesuit theatrical representations is the description of Lucifer as commander-in-chief, as well as a list of his deceits. The penitent is instructed to imagine the devil "in that great plain of Babylon. He is seated on a throne of fire and smoke, in aspect horrible and terrifying" as he "summons uncountable devils, disperses some to one city and others to another, and thus reaches into the whole world". He then tells them "to set out snares and chains", to lure men with promises of riches, then honor, then pride; "and from these three steps the enemy entices them to any other vices" (Ignatius of Loyola 1991, pp. 154–55). In other words, it would appear that according to Ignatius Loyola himself, the root of all evil is not so much the pursuit of pleasure as the quest for riches, honor and pride.<sup>17</sup>

In many of the Jesuit plays, similar demons and angels appear as part of the background action, as for example in the *The apotheosis or consecration of Saints Ignatius and Francis Xavier*, staged for the first time in 1622 at the Collegio Romano on the occasion of the canonization of Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier. Mixing acting, opera and ballet, the play contained scenes set in hell, as well as acts in which demons attacked the saints (Wetmore 2016). The play ended with "a spectacular earthquake [which] gives way to an opening in the heavens [and] all the countries prostrat[ing] themselves before the new saints and a chorus of angels" (Cohelho 1997, p. 31). In another play, also staged in 1622 for the celebration of the canonization of Francis Xavier, *Pirimalo*<sup>18</sup> by Gino Angelo Capponi, infernal spirits "emerge furiously and impetuously from a horrid cave" attempting to distract Francis Xavier from prayer (Filippi 2001, pp. 108–9).<sup>19</sup> Just as demons try to interfere with the life of humans, in the same play Francis Xavier's guardian angel, armed with lightening, intervenes in a human battle defeating and submerging the enemy ships.

Among the many works of Jesuit theatre where angels and devils show their influence on human souls, two in particular stand out, as their entire Latin text remains: Stefano Tuccio's *Christus Iudex* [The Judging Christ], first staged in Messina in 1569, and Vincenzo Guiniggi's *Ignatius arma mutans* [Ignatius changing arms] first staged in Rome in 1622.<sup>20</sup> *Christus Iudex* enacts the very day of judgment, when souls are eternally assigned to heaven or hell, the last and only moment in human history in which there will no longer exist the possibility of repentance. *Ignatius arma mutans*, on the other hand, allows spectators to see the demonic forces at work throughout human history, even in the present, warning against those human ambitions and desires which, though they might appear justifiable, may well be of demonic origin. Thus, both plays stage angelic and demonic figures as characters, and heaven and

<sup>15</sup> See Conrod (2010) on the importance of creating an image of Hell as a place of eternal punishment for indigenous populations that did not have a hell as part of their cosmology.

<sup>16</sup> See Prosperi (2015, pp. 368–69) for the imagery of the two standards: "The two standards are those of Christ and Lucifer, the two captains who, according to military practice, planted their standards and enlisted those willing to gather under their ensigns. [ . . . ] The vision presented for the fourth day is of the whole world as a place of conflict where the armies of the two opposing captains line up and confront each other".

<sup>17</sup> See Mk 1: 12–13, Lk 4: 1–13, and Mt 4: 1–11 where the devil tempted Jesus himself with riches, honor and pride.

<sup>18</sup> The play staged the martyrdom of Pirimalo, prince of Ceylon, killed by his father the day after he was baptized by Francis Xavier.

<sup>19</sup> Demons also appear in Leone Santi's *Il gigante* [The giant] (1632), a retelling in Italian of the story of David and Goliath. In the first scene of the second act, the play stages an infernal council modelled on Canto IV of *Gerusalemme liberata*. The council concludes in a scene of music and dance. Lucifer and other demons are also present in *Isacco* [Isaac] by Antonio Casilio staged in 1637 (Filippi 2001, pp. 159–66). A dance of devils who predict the crown for a cruel and revengeful tyrant is mentioned in the argument for the Italian tragedy *Alessio Comneno* (1674) of unknown author (Filippi 2001, pp. 348–51). An infernal spirit declares to have abandoned hell and has taken up human form in order to act as a tempter of the protagonist in the hagiographic play *Alessio* (1690) of unknown author (Filippi 2001, pp. 378–80). The celebrated tragedy *Crispo* by Bernardino Stefonio, modelled on Seneca's *Phaedra*, staged multiple times after its 1596 premiere at the Collegio Romano, also has scenes that take place in hell. More specifically, hell opens and Fausta (the protagonist's lying stepmother) is set up by demons on a throne and shown honors (Filippi 2001, p. 457).

<sup>20</sup> Future cardinal Giulio Mazzarino played the role of the protagonist Ignatius (Filippi 2001, p. 62).

hell as locations, in order to offer their actors and spectators an educational message on the need to repent now and follow a virtuous life.
