COMING TO ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE STUDIOS, UNDERGROUND, EDINBURGH FROM 6TH-30TH AUGUST, 2026

SYNOPSIS

In collaboration between Andy Jordan Productions and HTP Productions.

Vincent van Gogh: Between Worlds by Paola Veneto is a contemporary theatrical meditation on the life, letters, and inner landscape of Vincent van Gogh. Inspired by Follia? Vita di Vincent van Gogh by Giordano Bruno Guerri (Bompiani, 2009), the play intertwines Vincent’s correspondence with Theo and Gauguin, amongst others, with philosophical reflections from Sartre and Artaud.

A modern narrator guides the audience into Vincent’s world, blurring past and present as he moves through the space, inviting spectators to step into the artist’s inner struggles and moments of clarity. The play shifts the narrative: instead of asking whether Vincent was “mad,” it proposes a more radical perspective — what if the world around him was unable to see what he saw? Minimalistic, immersive, and profoundly human, Between Worlds explores art, alienation, genius, and the cost of sensitivity in a society that demands conformity.

Between Worlds has been performed since 2010, under its Italian name, La Discesa Infinita, across major Italian cities and cultural institutions, including Milan, Rome, Cortina, Amsterdam, and numerous festivals. The 2022 Sicilian tour featured performances at the Ancient Greek Theatre of Segesta, the Theatre of the Nìke in Giardini Naxos, and the Palazzo della Cultura in Catania, drawing large audiences and significant press coverage. In September 2024, the play was also presented in Paris at the Teatro dell’Istituto Italiano di Cultura, further confirming its international interest and expanding its European journey.

“A powerful and visionary performance that brings Van Gogh’s ‘lucid anguish’ and
‘damned reason’ to life.” – ANSA, in response to La Discesa Infinita in Rome.

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THE TEAM BEHIND ‘VINCENT VAN GOGH: BETWEEN WORLDS’

Paolo Veneto – Writer and Director

Paola Veneto is an Italian playwright, director, author and cultural journalist whose work moves
between theatre, literature, audiovisual media and international cultural projects. With more than
twenty years of experience across artistic direction, dramaturgy, journalism and creative writing, her
work combines historical research, poetic language and psychological depth with a strong focus on
contemporary human experience.

Riccardo Avati – The Art Student & Assistant Director

Riccardo Avati is an Italian actor, assistant director and voice artist working between London, Italy
and France. A multilingual performer fluent in English, Italian and French, with strong Spanish, his
work spans theatre, film and voice performance, with a particular focus on psychologically driven and
internationally collaborative storytelling.

Antonio Gargiulo – Vincent van Gogh

Antonio Gargiulo is an Italian stage and screen actor based in Rome, with an extensive body of work across theatre, film and television. Trained at the Accademia Internazionale di Teatro di Roma and the Centro Teatrale Santa Cristina under Luca Ronconi, he has also worked with internationally recognised directors and artists including Andrey Konchalovsky, Emma Dante, Valerio Binasco, Giancarlo Sepe and Massimiliano Bruno.

For over a decade, Gargiulo has developed and performed the role of Vincent van Gogh in Vincent van Gogh – La Discesa Infinita, now presented internationally as Between Worlds, including performances in Amsterdam and Paris.

Cloé Xhauflaire – Elisabeth Huberta Du Quesne-Van Gogh, Sien, Ravoux & Narrator

Cloé Xhauflaire is a Belgian-American actress, acting coach and author working between Europe and the United States. Trained at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, she later continued her artistic development in New York at the Susan Batson Studio, where she worked for seven years as one of the studio’s lead acting coaches before founding her own international training platform, Act In Everywhere.

Will Medland – Theo van Gogh, Sartre, Ronquentin, Gauguin & Narrator

Will Medland is a British actor for stage and screen and a classically trained singer from the North West of England. He trained at the Fontainebleau School of Acting in France and Athens, completing both its professional conservatoire and postgraduate programmes, following earlier studies at the Guildhall School
of Music and Drama in London. Alongside his acting training, he holds an ARSM Diploma in Classical Singing with Distinction.

Emanuele Turetta – Antonin Artaud

Emanuele Turetta is an Italian actor working across theatre, film, and television. Born in Milan, he trained at the prestigious Civica Accademia d’Arte Drammatica Paolo Grassi, graduating in 2012, and has since established himself as one of the most compelling voices of his generation within contemporary Italian theatre.

Giacomo del Colle Lauri Volpi – Composer & Pianist

Giacomo del Colle Lauri Volpi is an Italian composer and pianist working across theatre, contemporary performance, audiovisual composition and interdisciplinary artistic projects. His work combines elements of minimalism, classical composition and cinematic sound design, with a particular focus on emotional atmosphere, psychological rhythm and narrative structure.

For more than a decade, Del Colle Lauri Volpi has collaborated closely with director Paola Veneto. His score for Vincent van Gogh : Between Worlds has been widely recognised for its emotional intensity, restraint and haunting lyricism, moving fluidly between tenderness, violence and silence in order to evoke Vincent’s inner world.