Inanna's Descent into the Underworld
From the Great Above she opened her ear to the Great Below.
From the Great Above the Goddess opened her ear to the Great Below.
From the Great Above Inanna opened her ear to the Great Below.
This is a modern musical multimedia dance retelling of humanity's oldest story, written down in ancient Sumer around 3500 BCE. Inanna's story of transformation reaches across the millennia with gems of wisdom for the modern Soul. It's pretty scary, so not for small children, but great for Halloween! 'Inanna's Descent' features original live music written and performed by Meg Bohrman. Accompanied by Cosimo Bohrman and Zach Dominguez from Galactagogues and a chorus of singers. Dancers and multi-media original art create a one-of-a-kind immersive experience.
2023 Shows
Friday and Saturday, Oct. 27 & 28, 7:00 PM at the Prescott Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Prescott, AZ
Sunday, Oct. 29, 7:00 PM at the Raven Cafe, Prescott, AZ
2024 Shows
October performances in Prescott, AZ
Background
Inanna’s Descent is among a number of myths written down in cuneiform script on clay tablets in Ancient Sumer around 5000 years ago. The story was painstakingly unearthed, pieced together and translated by international scholars over the last century and a half. Today, in the year 2023, Inanna is enjoying a resurrection in the collective imagination. Across the globe, historians, mythologists, poets, artists and psychologists are helping to bring her, and her important stories, back to life.
Third Road Theater presents Inanna’s Descent as an offering; an antidote to the modern world of uncertainty, anxiety and disconnection from nature’s cycles. It tells of Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, and her journey to the Underworld where her sister, Ereshkigal, is Queen.
There is more to Inanna’s story than we are telling here in this production tonight. In fact, there seems to be no end to her story! I shortened and changed some parts of the myth, emphasized others. This is artistic license. I like to think that as Goddess of Transformation and Rebirth, Inanna would smile on such Diversity of Creation.
We are living in uncertain times - times when it feels like there is little firm ground to stand on. The center cannot hold. Things fall apart.
Inanna and Ereshkigal’s story reminds us of the greater Universal cycles of movement between opposites: above and below, light and dark, masculine and feminine, yin and yang, creation and destruction, joy and pain, life and death. This is the dance of Paradox, and when we learn the steps, we become Wise.
The story of Descent lays bare the unavoidable suffering involved in the Transformation process. This is the same process we undergo when we heal our personal and collective trauma. In a world of constant turmoil, Inanna’s story can provide us with a road map, not just of how to suffer the Darkness of Descent, but also how to follow the Light of Return.
