The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp
This is an incredible site on art history. I was floored by its content, breadth, and ability to access the information.
http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=3567
This may be a silly reason to include this website, but the costuming shown in the one photo on this website seems to almost be a farce interpretation or at least a more comedic.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Dramaturg's Statement
In discussing the Scenes from an Execution there are four main topics of discussion and discrepancy. They are characters, history, genre, and general staging. Below will be specific places in the script and ideas that will hopefully give a head start for making the transition between the script and the stage.
To start, let’s begin with the character known as “Sketchbook”. I read somewhere that the Sketchbook is meant to embody Galactia’s process and also act as a narrator. When cast, this character seems to be cast predominantly by a woman. But the Sketchbook is very ambiguous. The Sketchbook’s job is to discuss the Galactia’s painting. Then we move onto characters called Dimintia, Supporta and Urgentino. Each character’s name has a meaning or seems to be a play on words. The list of characters is in itself a sort of allegory. But then there is the discrepancy that they are not accurate. Galactia’s daughter is named Supporta, but not supportive of her mother. Is this sarcasm or an intentional play with words? Either way, the character’s names seem to be very intentional since they will clearly lend the audience to apply what their names sound like to the character.
This is a mix between history and characters, but what does it mean and what does it matter that Galactia is based on a real woman from Venice during the 1600’s? Her name is Artemisia Gentileschi. A woman who was able to paint the way that she was because her father owned an art school. She showed promise and an interest in painting at a time when women really were not allowed to go to school for art because they would have to paint nude portraits which was forbidden by the church. So what does it mean in this play that we have a woman doing all of that? Artemisia was raped by her tutor that her father had gotten for her. Does this play into the script? Does it effect the character of Galactia? I guess the whole subject that needs to be decided is, how much is Galactia like and based off of Artemisia and how does Artemisia’s life not play into the characterization of Galactia.
Next, the history behind the play. It is debated if this script is historically accurate, historical fiction, or another form. This will be discussed further in the next section, but the point is that if it is based on history at all, it might be important to know the facts surrounding the possible and obvious history. To start, Italy is on the decline of the Renaissance, but the influence is lasting. This is important because Italy has been brought out of the highlight of art and literature and it’s “awakening”, but the importance and lasting effect that the Renaissance had would make this time that the show could be set in, 1620, a great time for art and painting. It is also important to note the battle for which Galactia is painting: The Battle of Lepanto. It was Venice against the Ottoman Empire. The following is a brief, but important synopsis of the battle. “The greatest moment in the history of Venice occurred on the morning of October 7, 1570 at Lepanto. Both sides were evenly matched, and the Christians led by the Venetians immediately attacked the Turkish fleet. Finally, as the flagship of the Turkish fleet was taken and the admiral beheaded the battle drew to an end. On October, a Venetian galley entered the bay of San Marco trailing the Turkish banners in the water behind her stern, with her deck piled high with trophies. Within an hour the whole of Venice was celebrating the victory. Upon hearing the news, the Pope ordered the church bells of all the churches to ring at midday to celebrate the victory. As so today, at the stroke of midday, the chimes of the bells ring out still celebrating this famous Venetian victory.”
This battle is know as Venice’s most supreme victory and yet we have this painter named Galactia who feels the need to go against the government and paint it for what it really was. Maybe it’s important to formulate an opinion of the battle. Maybe it’s important just because of the history it created for Venice. But it certainly is important to the plot no matter what is done with it.
This certainly leads into the question of genre. The title alone seems to tell of a dramatic play. But then add a touch of history, a man’s open head that could be seemingly comical, a naked man, and a handful of incongruities and this play no longer seems to have a place to be set. Postmodern seems to be an option with the script’s mixing of ideas and places. Maybe it’s just a misunderstood dark comedy. We do have a female painter in the early 17th century, painting naked men, and has a sketchbook that talks to her. This has the potential to ooze comedy. I guess the point is that deciding a genre or a couple of genres may help place the acting style and design in a more consistent direction.
The last big piece is the staging of this script. The question here is how realistic or suggestive is necessary to get the point across? Yet again, go back to the character Sketchbook. Is this person dressed like one? Is she on an easel? Where do you put a sketchbook on a stage? Then there is the character who calls himself “Man with the Crossbow.” How graphic does this presentation need to be? Even the painting that Galactia is working on, in one review it was said that Howard Barker had no intentions of letting the audience see the work. How will this be handled?
Monday, August 4, 2008
Educator Packet
WELCOME TO YOUR EDUCATOR PACKET FOR SCENES FROM AN EXECUTION.
All of the information below is assuming that your class is college level. There are a few ideas to which your discretion will be necessary based on the type of class you teach.
Art Assignment: This doesn't necessarily have to be done with an art class. Pen and paper would probably suffice. Without explaining anything about the script give the class the following scenario:
"You are a painter in Italy. Italy has just won a battle against its most fierce opponent. The whole country is rejoicing in its victory. As one of the most recognized and talented painters in Venice you have been asked to paint this battle to show the power and strength of Venice and specifically its splendid victory. You have ten minutes. Go."
The objective: The students have been given a vague description for a painting by you, their authority figure. It is time to see who paints a glorious Italy and who understands that Italy just destroyed a people and are victorious in their death.
The point: Galactia, the Venice painter, didn't paint a victorious Italy, but instead showed the pain and death that occurred. She did it against opposition. She did it as a female painter around the early 1600's when it was usually looked down upon female painters. The basic fact is that it is usually an incredible feat to go against the grain.
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Art comparison project
If you have projector capabilities it will probably not be necessary to get copies of these paintings, but for this project it will be necessary, in some fashion, to have two paintings of the Battle of Lepanto. This is the battle for which Scene's protagonist is to paint. The battle can be painted either with disdain, as did Galactia, or with support and victory.
This website is for a victorious painting done in the 17th century.
http://www.starportraitstudio.com/5629th_oil_painting.htm
This website is for a modern, highly abstract painting done in modern times.
http://www.museodelprado.es/en/ingles/exposiciones/info/en-el-museo/lepanto-cy-twombly/la-exposicion/
The Point
Galactia in the play had a very different view of the Battle of Lepanto. What are the views of these artists? Which makes the most sense? Is one right and the other wrong?
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Author Biography: He is a British playwright named Howard Barker.
The son of Sydney Charles and Georgina Irene Carter Barker, was born in Dulwich, London. Between 1958 and 1964 he attended Battersea Grammar School, before going to Sussex University where he took an M.A. in history in 1968. Four years later he married Sandra Mary Law. Barker has coined the term 'Theatre of Catastrophe' to describe his work. His plays often explore violence, sexuality, the desire for power, and human motivation.Rejecting the widespread notion that an audience should share a single response to the events onstage, Barker works to fragment response, forcing each viewer to wrestle with the play alone. "We must overcome the urge to do things in unison" he writes. "To chant together, to hum banal tunes together, is not collectivity."
Where other playwrights might clarify a scene, Barker seeks to render it more complex, ambiguous, and unstable.Opposing the predominance of comedy in the contemporary culture, which unifies us through the banality of a shared response, he argues for the rebirth of a tragic theatre, which will force us to recognize our differences. Only through a tragic renaissance, Barker argues, will beauty and poetry return to the stage. "Tragedy liberates language from banality" he asserts. "It returns poetry to speech." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Barker
Reviews
The Past Through the Prism of the Present
June 5, 2007 - 10:48 — Mallory Jensen
"The characters’ tangled relationships and loyalties, portrayed with intensity by the leading actors, not only draw you into the individual struggles that shape them and their world, but demand your engagement from start to finish with the intellectual and moral issues from which those struggles are born."
Steve Hoppe
"Written by Howard Barker, Scenes from an Execution combines extremely dense text with profound visual imagery, which Director Jim Peck and the rest of the company execute with clarity and precision"
A Look Into the Characters
Galactia- Female, Venetian, Painter, 46 years old.
Carpeta- Male, Painter of "pity", Galactia's lover, appears to be around the same age as Sordo so possibly about 37 years old.
Urgentino- Male, politician, the Doge, Venetian.
Suffici- Male, Venetian Admiral, being painted by Glactia.
Rivera- Female, critic, poet, sensualist, brought to critique Galactia's work by Urgentino.
Ostensibile- Male, Cardinale, Secretary of State for Public Education.
Prodo- Male, "Man with the Crossbow Bolt in His Head", shows battle wounds for money to Galactia.
Sketchbook- Androgynous, sort of a narrator to Galactia's painting, no sense of age, race, etc.
Supporta- Female, Venetian, Galactia's daughter, in a professional relationship with her mother for 20 years.
Dimentia- Female, Venetian, Galactia's daughter.
Sordo- painter, acquaintance of Carpeta, 37 years old.
Basic Plot
Glenda Jackson starred in this brilliant drama about a sixteenth century Venetian painter commissioned by the Doge to do a mural commemorating the naval victory at Lepanto. She is a woman, a realist, a rebel and a free spirit, so the government does not get the jingoistic celebration of political and military might it expects. Galactia reveals war in all its horror, cruelty and suffering and chooses prison over changing the mural. This fascinating parable raises issues of contemporary resonance. As the play unfolds, the paradoxical mystery of art is espoused: that works exist independently of their creators.
http://www.samuelfrench.com/store/product_info.php/products_id/2229
Question and Answer Session
After seeing the production of Scenes there will be a time for Q & A with the actors and director and possibly others will be present. This is really a time to delve into what you have seen. There are typical questions to ask the actors such as, "How did you learn all of those lines?" These questions are valid, but the director and cast and others would be more enticed by the following questions.
1. What was your overall concept? (both design and acting)
2. How did you decide what time period to put this in?
3. Who made the decision on how to approach the character of the "Sketchbook?"
4. Was the nudity a concern when choosing this show?
5. Why do you think the show is called Scenes from an Execution?
All of the information below is assuming that your class is college level. There are a few ideas to which your discretion will be necessary based on the type of class you teach.
Art Assignment: This doesn't necessarily have to be done with an art class. Pen and paper would probably suffice. Without explaining anything about the script give the class the following scenario:
"You are a painter in Italy. Italy has just won a battle against its most fierce opponent. The whole country is rejoicing in its victory. As one of the most recognized and talented painters in Venice you have been asked to paint this battle to show the power and strength of Venice and specifically its splendid victory. You have ten minutes. Go."
The objective: The students have been given a vague description for a painting by you, their authority figure. It is time to see who paints a glorious Italy and who understands that Italy just destroyed a people and are victorious in their death.
The point: Galactia, the Venice painter, didn't paint a victorious Italy, but instead showed the pain and death that occurred. She did it against opposition. She did it as a female painter around the early 1600's when it was usually looked down upon female painters. The basic fact is that it is usually an incredible feat to go against the grain.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Art comparison project
If you have projector capabilities it will probably not be necessary to get copies of these paintings, but for this project it will be necessary, in some fashion, to have two paintings of the Battle of Lepanto. This is the battle for which Scene's protagonist is to paint. The battle can be painted either with disdain, as did Galactia, or with support and victory.
This website is for a victorious painting done in the 17th century.
http://www.starportraitstudio.com/5629th_oil_painting.htm
This website is for a modern, highly abstract painting done in modern times.
http://www.museodelprado.es/en/ingles/exposiciones/info/en-el-museo/lepanto-cy-twombly/la-exposicion/
The Point
Galactia in the play had a very different view of the Battle of Lepanto. What are the views of these artists? Which makes the most sense? Is one right and the other wrong?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author Biography: He is a British playwright named Howard Barker.
The son of Sydney Charles and Georgina Irene Carter Barker, was born in Dulwich, London. Between 1958 and 1964 he attended Battersea Grammar School, before going to Sussex University where he took an M.A. in history in 1968. Four years later he married Sandra Mary Law. Barker has coined the term 'Theatre of Catastrophe' to describe his work. His plays often explore violence, sexuality, the desire for power, and human motivation.Rejecting the widespread notion that an audience should share a single response to the events onstage, Barker works to fragment response, forcing each viewer to wrestle with the play alone. "We must overcome the urge to do things in unison" he writes. "To chant together, to hum banal tunes together, is not collectivity."
Where other playwrights might clarify a scene, Barker seeks to render it more complex, ambiguous, and unstable.Opposing the predominance of comedy in the contemporary culture, which unifies us through the banality of a shared response, he argues for the rebirth of a tragic theatre, which will force us to recognize our differences. Only through a tragic renaissance, Barker argues, will beauty and poetry return to the stage. "Tragedy liberates language from banality" he asserts. "It returns poetry to speech." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Barker
Reviews
The Past Through the Prism of the Present
June 5, 2007 - 10:48 — Mallory Jensen
"The characters’ tangled relationships and loyalties, portrayed with intensity by the leading actors, not only draw you into the individual struggles that shape them and their world, but demand your engagement from start to finish with the intellectual and moral issues from which those struggles are born."
Steve Hoppe
"Written by Howard Barker, Scenes from an Execution combines extremely dense text with profound visual imagery, which Director Jim Peck and the rest of the company execute with clarity and precision"
A Look Into the Characters
Galactia- Female, Venetian, Painter, 46 years old.
Carpeta- Male, Painter of "pity", Galactia's lover, appears to be around the same age as Sordo so possibly about 37 years old.
Urgentino- Male, politician, the Doge, Venetian.
Suffici- Male, Venetian Admiral, being painted by Glactia.
Rivera- Female, critic, poet, sensualist, brought to critique Galactia's work by Urgentino.
Ostensibile- Male, Cardinale, Secretary of State for Public Education.
Prodo- Male, "Man with the Crossbow Bolt in His Head", shows battle wounds for money to Galactia.
Sketchbook- Androgynous, sort of a narrator to Galactia's painting, no sense of age, race, etc.
Supporta- Female, Venetian, Galactia's daughter, in a professional relationship with her mother for 20 years.
Dimentia- Female, Venetian, Galactia's daughter.
Sordo- painter, acquaintance of Carpeta, 37 years old.
Basic Plot
Glenda Jackson starred in this brilliant drama about a sixteenth century Venetian painter commissioned by the Doge to do a mural commemorating the naval victory at Lepanto. She is a woman, a realist, a rebel and a free spirit, so the government does not get the jingoistic celebration of political and military might it expects. Galactia reveals war in all its horror, cruelty and suffering and chooses prison over changing the mural. This fascinating parable raises issues of contemporary resonance. As the play unfolds, the paradoxical mystery of art is espoused: that works exist independently of their creators.
http://www.samuelfrench.com/store/product_info.php/products_id/2229
Question and Answer Session
After seeing the production of Scenes there will be a time for Q & A with the actors and director and possibly others will be present. This is really a time to delve into what you have seen. There are typical questions to ask the actors such as, "How did you learn all of those lines?" These questions are valid, but the director and cast and others would be more enticed by the following questions.
1. What was your overall concept? (both design and acting)
2. How did you decide what time period to put this in?
3. Who made the decision on how to approach the character of the "Sketchbook?"
4. Was the nudity a concern when choosing this show?
5. Why do you think the show is called Scenes from an Execution?
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Artemisia Gentileschi
Scenes is historical fiction. Understanding the historical pieces of the play can be exponentially helpful. On my first read of Scenes I had no idea that this show was based upon the work of an artist named Artemisia Gentileschi. To understand the impact that a female artist had post-renaissance and during the Baroque period of Italy is wonderous. These links will hopefully set the history behind the play in a light that previously was dim. Many of the links below cover her life and her art, but simply that is what Artemisia was really about: her art in her life.
The Life and Art of Artemisia
http://www.artemisia-gentileschi.com/index.shtml
This website does almost a slide show of Artemsia's paintings, when they were painted and what was going on in Artemesia's life when she did the painting.
Obligatory Wikipedia website
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_Gentileschi
As with most Wikipedia sites, it is more of an overall projection of Galactia. It has a very in depth biography of her life. It also has an interesting section about her and her relationship with popular culture that might be beneficial.
Painting Gallery of her work
http://www.svreeland.com/image-gal.html
This is simply a gallery of her work.
Bio, gallery, about the movie, rape.
http://www.webwinds.com/artemisia/artemisia.htm
This has a biography on her, other websites about her painting, an explanation of her paintings, and interestingly has the first information that I have found about a possible rape of Artemisia. It lastly goes into an explanation of the movie about her.
More in-depth biography
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/baroque/Artemisia-Gentileschi.html
A very in-depth biography supplemented with her work.
The Life and Art of Artemisia
http://www.artemisia-gentileschi.com/index.shtml
This website does almost a slide show of Artemsia's paintings, when they were painted and what was going on in Artemesia's life when she did the painting.
Obligatory Wikipedia website
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_Gentileschi
As with most Wikipedia sites, it is more of an overall projection of Galactia. It has a very in depth biography of her life. It also has an interesting section about her and her relationship with popular culture that might be beneficial.
Painting Gallery of her work
http://www.svreeland.com/image-gal.html
This is simply a gallery of her work.
Bio, gallery, about the movie, rape.
http://www.webwinds.com/artemisia/artemisia.htm
This has a biography on her, other websites about her painting, an explanation of her paintings, and interestingly has the first information that I have found about a possible rape of Artemisia. It lastly goes into an explanation of the movie about her.
More in-depth biography
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/baroque/Artemisia-Gentileschi.html
A very in-depth biography supplemented with her work.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Production History
*Yet again, the formatting of my blog hit the fan for some odd reason*
Potomac Theatre Project
CAST and CREW: The cast for Scenes From An Execution includes Jan Maxwell as Galactia (Broadway: Coram Boy, Sixteen Wounded, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), David Barlow (Horizon/NY Theatre Workshop, Oroonoko/Theater for a New Audience), Alex Draper (Terrorism/New Group, Get What You Need/Atlantic Theater), Patricia Buckley, Rachel Ann Cole, Allison Corke, Will Damron, Tim Deenihan, Lucy Faust, Justine Katzenbach, Willie Orbison, Peter Schmitz, Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki and Robert Zukerman.
Directed by Richard Romagnoli
The design/production team consists of Laura Eckelman (Lighting Design), Mark Evancho (Set Design) and Hallie Zieselman (Production Manager). Costume Design for Execution by Jule Emerson. Stage Manager for Execution is Amy Bailey. Press Rep: David Gibbs/DARR Publicity.
Previews start July 3
Opens July 6, 2008
Closes July 26, 2008
Basically, this show was the opening, premiere show of Scenes. It has a plethora of information in and around the internet, and yet nothing on the actualy PTP website. I insisted on using this piece though because it is what everything involving Scenes is based upon.
http://www.offoffonline.com/listings.php?id=8401
http://www.potomactheatreproject.org/
Potomac Theatre Project
CAST and CREW: The cast for Scenes From An Execution includes Jan Maxwell as Galactia (Broadway: Coram Boy, Sixteen Wounded, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), David Barlow (Horizon/NY Theatre Workshop, Oroonoko/Theater for a New Audience), Alex Draper (Terrorism/New Group, Get What You Need/Atlantic Theater), Patricia Buckley, Rachel Ann Cole, Allison Corke, Will Damron, Tim Deenihan, Lucy Faust, Justine Katzenbach, Willie Orbison, Peter Schmitz, Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki and Robert Zukerman.
Directed by Richard Romagnoli
The design/production team consists of Laura Eckelman (Lighting Design), Mark Evancho (Set Design) and Hallie Zieselman (Production Manager). Costume Design for Execution by Jule Emerson. Stage Manager for Execution is Amy Bailey. Press Rep: David Gibbs/DARR Publicity.
Previews start July 3
Opens July 6, 2008
Closes July 26, 2008
Basically, this show was the opening, premiere show of Scenes. It has a plethora of information in and around the internet, and yet nothing on the actualy PTP website. I insisted on using this piece though because it is what everything involving Scenes is based upon.
http://www.offoffonline.com/listings.php?id=8401
http://www.potomactheatreproject.org/
The Hudson Guild Theatre, 441 West 26th St., NYC
Directed by Zander Teller
Lighting designer-Joe Novak
Rivera-Julia Beardsley O’Brien
Galactia- Elena McGhee
From the sounds of it, this show was acted with extreme precision. The critic gives me the idea that maybe the script is weak but was compensated by a tremendous cast. I think the director's concept was "incredible acting quality."
http://culturecatch.com/theater/scenes-from-an-execution
The Unknown Theatre
LA, California
February 17th, 2006 - April 1st, 2006
Directed and designed by Chris Covics
Assistant Director: Vanessa Waters
Costume design and construction: Jill Fouts
Music and sound design: David Permenter
Every time I thought I was finding something out about this show it wound up in a dead end. But it happened!
College of Fine Arts during the next two weekends at the Boston Center for the Arts
Calderwood Pavilion’s Wimberly Theatre
Friday, December 9, at 8 p.m., Saturday, December 10, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, December 11, at 2 p.m.
says director Jim Petosa
Therese Barbato-Supporta
Galactia, played by Paula Langton
This was a show that has a similar set design to one that I found from a designer online who didn't give much information. But the set really looks like an artist's work place with splatters on the walls and floor. I like the idea of a professor playig Galactia, just because she would probably have the age and maturity to play a part such as Galactia.
Studio Theatre, located in Trexler Pavilion.
Allentown, PA
Scenes from an Execution runs through Nov. 23
Director Jim Peck
Galactia- Devon Allen
Carpeta- Nick Thompson-Miller
I used this production mainly because the review that I got the information from seemed to understand the script and therefore the production. The play was set up into intentions, groups that help certain opinions, and gave reference to a time. So certainly the reviewer understood all of that because the play was portrayed well.
Venue: Hackney Empire -
Also: Bullion Room Theatre, Acorn Theatre
Dates: 9th January 2007 to 27th January 2007 (opens 11th January 2007) Mon-Sat 19:30. Sat Mat 14:00
Prices:£9.00 to £12.00
Cast: Company: Sweet Pea Productions
Director: William Oldroyad
Design: Signe Beckmann
Performer: Melanie Jessop, Oliver Birch, Tom Burke, Laura Elphinstone, Robert Goodale, Harry Hadden-Paton, Cate Hamer, Chris Kelham, David Killick, Laura Martin-Simpson, Roger Swaine
http://www.uktw.co.uk/dl/page.php?page=details&id=L01560495335
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
The play opens with the first of nine performances at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 in Kjer Theatre. Additional performances are slated for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16, 17 and 20-24 in Kjer Theatre. A matinee performance will be at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 18 in Kjer Theatre.
Director and sound designer Dr. Terry Allen, professor of theatre arts.
Senior Rebecca Ann Multz- Galactia.
Matthew Stuhl -Carpeta.
http://www.uwec.edu/newsbureau/release/past/1998/98-09/92998cast.html
Presented by the UA School of Theatre Arts Arizona Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.)
Location: Laboratory Theatre,Tucson, AZ
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Book by Joe Masteroff
Set Design: Tara Houston
Technical Director: Lee Adlaf
Assistant Technical Director: Hoover Cross
Master Carpenter: d. Ross Rauschkolb
Monday, July 28, 2008
Reviews
The Past Through the Prism of the Present
June 5, 2007 - 10:48 — Mallory Jensen
In Scenes from an Execution, Howard Barker recreates the contentious, inspired world of artistic Venice in the 1570s, populating a rich historical landscape with fictional painters and patrons. But the themes and emotions the play can arouse in an audience today, as in QED Productions’ current revival, deftly directed by Zander Teller, pulse as though modern, and almost factual. The characters’ tangled relationships and loyalties, portrayed with intensity by the leading actors, not only draw you into the individual struggles that shape them and their world, but demand your engagement from start to finish with the intellectual and moral issues from which those struggles are born.
But back to the beginning, when the series of “catastrophes” (to use the word Barker does for his work, which he has referred to as a “Theatre of Catastrophe”) has yet to unfold and all we know is that one of the most famous painters in 16th century Venice is a woman, Galactia (played with wit and vigor by Elena McGhee), and she has been commissioned by the city-state’s Doge to paint a massive victory canvas of the recent Battle of Lepanto, a huge and bloody naval battle in which the short-lived Holy League defeated the Ottoman Empire. Being a woman of unusual (especially for her era) independence of mind and spirit, Galactia naturally has no intention of painting a typical war-glorifying scene: she intends to show the battle and its fleshly consequences as realistically (i.e., gruesomely) as possible, and naturally this infuriates everyone from the Doge through Galactia’s daughters.
Barker’s approach can be didactic and preachy; one device he uses is to have an art critic – Rivera, the other strong, intelligent woman in the city, given an elegant presence by Julia Beardsley O’Brien – walk onstage where the action is frozen and describe and analyze it as a supposed preparatory painting by Galactia, and he also tends to spell out the philosophical issues at hand a bit too explicitly in the dialogue. Fortunately, the actors’ lively performances mostly ameliorate this shortcoming, so that even though you may be listening to Galactia lay out her rationale to her daughters, who are lesser creatures than she, McGhee’s delivery, punctuated with a laugh that manages to be carefree and sharp at once, makes the explicitness of the wording weigh less; similarly with the weak Doge, whose overwritten litany of complaints and demands is more palatable via Micah Freedman’s air of nervous pomposity. Thus truths about life and art that might come across as worn seem more like insight.
As Galactia’s work on the canvas progresses and her supporters progressively desert her because of her refusal to change her approach for anything, not to advance women’s position in art, as her daughters (minor painters themselves) wish, nor to help the Doge, who has been a good patron to artists but has a tenuous hold on power, nor to give herself glory or even to save herself when it becomes clear that her decisions have angered the powerful. One is reminded more than once, as she is excoriated for putting war’s brutal face on display, undisguised, of the circumstances of our own war – the visceral power of the photos from Abu Ghraib, the government’s ban on photos of coffins – and so of the continuing importance, and paucity, of people with Galactia’s conviction and determination. We have our lapdog media, Venice had plenty of painters like Galactia’s married lover Carpeta, who Mick O’Brien makes an appropriately spineless, and minor in every sense of the word, religious painter.
But for all the ire Galactia provokes in those around her and those who find her painting offensive, and for all the indications that the story is headed toward a typical, theatrical bad ending for the truth-teller, Barker doesn’t let them, or us, off that easily. Much as Galactia prides herself on poking the powerful in the eyes and would love to be a martyr for her art, the haunting black nights she spends in a dank prison cell, where McGhee shows her becoming more unhinged by the moment, make her see her work and purpose differently, much as the Doge is helped by Rivera to understand the value of Galactia’s painting and even independent-minded art in general. Consequently, he relents, and Galactia, in the play’s final minutes, performed very movingly by the cast here, witnesses the full effect her work has on viewers, and seeing it change them visibly changes her.
Neil Becker’s set is austere – though Joe Novak’s dramatic lighting adds a lot to build up the space – and Barker didn’t intend for the audience to see a real painting being produced onstage, but over the course of the scenes here, one can almost feel the images Galactia is setting to canvas burned into the blank air as she goes. Barker’s meditations on art and freedom in this play, which is thought provoking on many levels, take on new life in this wrenching production. The questions the actors bring to life in the made-up words of fictional Venetians resonate deeply in 2007 and are sure to stay with you well after you leave the theatre.
– Mallory Jensen
Scenes from an Execution runs through June 10 at the Hudson Guild Theatre, 441 West 26th St., NYC.
http://culturecatch.com/theater/scenes-from-an-execution
June 5, 2007 - 10:48 — Mallory Jensen
In Scenes from an Execution, Howard Barker recreates the contentious, inspired world of artistic Venice in the 1570s, populating a rich historical landscape with fictional painters and patrons. But the themes and emotions the play can arouse in an audience today, as in QED Productions’ current revival, deftly directed by Zander Teller, pulse as though modern, and almost factual. The characters’ tangled relationships and loyalties, portrayed with intensity by the leading actors, not only draw you into the individual struggles that shape them and their world, but demand your engagement from start to finish with the intellectual and moral issues from which those struggles are born.
But back to the beginning, when the series of “catastrophes” (to use the word Barker does for his work, which he has referred to as a “Theatre of Catastrophe”) has yet to unfold and all we know is that one of the most famous painters in 16th century Venice is a woman, Galactia (played with wit and vigor by Elena McGhee), and she has been commissioned by the city-state’s Doge to paint a massive victory canvas of the recent Battle of Lepanto, a huge and bloody naval battle in which the short-lived Holy League defeated the Ottoman Empire. Being a woman of unusual (especially for her era) independence of mind and spirit, Galactia naturally has no intention of painting a typical war-glorifying scene: she intends to show the battle and its fleshly consequences as realistically (i.e., gruesomely) as possible, and naturally this infuriates everyone from the Doge through Galactia’s daughters.
Barker’s approach can be didactic and preachy; one device he uses is to have an art critic – Rivera, the other strong, intelligent woman in the city, given an elegant presence by Julia Beardsley O’Brien – walk onstage where the action is frozen and describe and analyze it as a supposed preparatory painting by Galactia, and he also tends to spell out the philosophical issues at hand a bit too explicitly in the dialogue. Fortunately, the actors’ lively performances mostly ameliorate this shortcoming, so that even though you may be listening to Galactia lay out her rationale to her daughters, who are lesser creatures than she, McGhee’s delivery, punctuated with a laugh that manages to be carefree and sharp at once, makes the explicitness of the wording weigh less; similarly with the weak Doge, whose overwritten litany of complaints and demands is more palatable via Micah Freedman’s air of nervous pomposity. Thus truths about life and art that might come across as worn seem more like insight.
As Galactia’s work on the canvas progresses and her supporters progressively desert her because of her refusal to change her approach for anything, not to advance women’s position in art, as her daughters (minor painters themselves) wish, nor to help the Doge, who has been a good patron to artists but has a tenuous hold on power, nor to give herself glory or even to save herself when it becomes clear that her decisions have angered the powerful. One is reminded more than once, as she is excoriated for putting war’s brutal face on display, undisguised, of the circumstances of our own war – the visceral power of the photos from Abu Ghraib, the government’s ban on photos of coffins – and so of the continuing importance, and paucity, of people with Galactia’s conviction and determination. We have our lapdog media, Venice had plenty of painters like Galactia’s married lover Carpeta, who Mick O’Brien makes an appropriately spineless, and minor in every sense of the word, religious painter.
But for all the ire Galactia provokes in those around her and those who find her painting offensive, and for all the indications that the story is headed toward a typical, theatrical bad ending for the truth-teller, Barker doesn’t let them, or us, off that easily. Much as Galactia prides herself on poking the powerful in the eyes and would love to be a martyr for her art, the haunting black nights she spends in a dank prison cell, where McGhee shows her becoming more unhinged by the moment, make her see her work and purpose differently, much as the Doge is helped by Rivera to understand the value of Galactia’s painting and even independent-minded art in general. Consequently, he relents, and Galactia, in the play’s final minutes, performed very movingly by the cast here, witnesses the full effect her work has on viewers, and seeing it change them visibly changes her.
Neil Becker’s set is austere – though Joe Novak’s dramatic lighting adds a lot to build up the space – and Barker didn’t intend for the audience to see a real painting being produced onstage, but over the course of the scenes here, one can almost feel the images Galactia is setting to canvas burned into the blank air as she goes. Barker’s meditations on art and freedom in this play, which is thought provoking on many levels, take on new life in this wrenching production. The questions the actors bring to life in the made-up words of fictional Venetians resonate deeply in 2007 and are sure to stay with you well after you leave the theatre.
– Mallory Jensen
Scenes from an Execution runs through June 10 at the Hudson Guild Theatre, 441 West 26th St., NYC.
http://culturecatch.com/theater/scenes-from-an-execution
nytheatre.com review
Martin Denton · July 6, 2008
Why didn't I feel engaged by Potomac Theatre Project's revival of Howard Barker's Scenes from an Execution? The subject matter is important and timely and is presented by the author the way one wishes to see serious issues presented on stage, which is to say as the give-and-take discourse of intelligent and articulate characters.
The subject is the freedom of artists in a so-called democracy. Barker sets his play in a fictionalized version of 16th century Venice, which (in the play, anyway) regards itself as a democratic state. The Doge of Venice, Urgentino, has commissioned a maverick painter named Galactia to paint a huge canvas (1000 square feet!) on the Battle of Lepanto. He thinks she knows—and indeed, she does know—that her government expects something that will celebrate Venice's victory in this battle, something that will glorify her country's dominion and values and so on. But she paints something else nevertheless: she says she wants to paint the truth, and for her the truth is that this battle was horrible and bloody and awful. She makes the Venetian admiral in command of the fleet—Urgentino's brother, Suffici—into a hard-hearted, callous wretch. She makes the carnage, to use a word that crops up more than once in the play, coarse.
She gets into trouble, not surprisingly: most of the play's second act depicts her inquisition at the hands of the Doge and one of his chief ministers, a Cardinal named Ostensible, and then her imprisonment and subsequent, um, rehabilitation. Barker makes the ethical/moral questions inherent in his story more and more complicated and ambiguous as the drama unfolds, and puts a number of speeches in the mouths of his characters that are entirely contradictory yet utterly unimpeachable.
It certainly sounds like the recipe for a challenging and exhilarating couple of hours of theatre....and yet, it left me cold, and I've been trying to figure out the reason. I've come up with a few possibilities. First and probably foremost, the play itself IS cold. At least in Jan Maxwell's characterization, Galactia is an oddly passionless artist: I wondered how a person capable of painting something that (everyone in the play tells us) is the kind of life-changing work of art that, say, Guernica was could herself be so lacking in fire and depth. Barker gives Galactia a love/hate relationship with a fellow painter named Carpeta, but Maxwell and David Barlow set off no sparks here; her rejections and overtures register as nothing more than shallow caprice.
The names of the characters suggest that Barker is writing an allegory rather than something to be taken at face value, yet director Robert Romagnoli stages the piece naturalistically, albeit anachronistically (the women wear period gowns but the men's garb feels more contemporary; a moment when Carpeta zips up his trousers is particularly jarring).
And the performances here are wildly uneven. Maxwell still seemed to be struggling with some of her lines, and as noted shows little of the complexity that I imagine Galactia must possess. Barlow (Carpeta) and Alex Draper (Urgentino) never come across as her equals, which is problematic; only Robert Zukerman as Suffici and Timothy Deenihan as Ostensible accomplish that. Just one performance actually moved me in Scenes from an Execution: Willie Orbison's, near the end of the first act, as a sailor who happens to glimpse the still-in-process painting of the Battle of Lepanto. His face—rapt, wracked—displays the immensity of what Galactia is presumably communicating in her work; something so nakedly, indisputably honest that it would turn a democracy upside-down for what it revealed about it.
http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/showpage.php?t=scen7009
By FRANK SCHECK
Rating: 
Last updated: 7:39 am
July 8, 2008
Posted: 4:09 am
July 8, 2008
WAR, love and more are treated in deceptively lighthearted fashion in "Scenes From an Execution," Howard Barker's play about a sexually liberated sixth-century Venetian artist who runs afoul of the authorities.
That (fictional) artist is Galactia (the terrific Jan Maxwell), a high-spirited woman whose many lovers include a rival painter named Carpeta (David Barlow).
Commissioned to render a massive painting commemorating the city's recent naval victory, Galatica instead uses her 1,000-square-foot canvas to depict the horrors of war.
Needless to say, this doesn't sit well with the Doge (Alex Draper) or Cardinal (Timothy Deenihan), who declares, "I despise artists, and that's why I'm perfectly qualified to sit on this committee!"
And so Galactia gets thrown into a dungeon. It's only through the intervention of an enlightened critic (no, that's not an oxymoron) that her painting isn't destroyed.
While playwright Barker has much to say about the role of artists in society and sexual double standards, "Scenes" is a talky, overly self-conscious affair.
From its cutesy character names - Galactia's daughters are named Supporta and Dementia - to such bits as the wounded veteran walking around with an arrow stuck in his head, the play sacrifices dramatic intensity in favor of low comedy.
Still, its messages ring true and are delivered in reasonably effective fashion in director Richard Romagnoli's well-acted production, which includes a cast of both professionals and students from Vermont's Middlebury College.
Best of all, not surprisingly, is Maxwell, who is enthralling as the defiantly sexual and free-thinking artist.
"Scenes," written in 1985 and previously seen here in a 1996 production, is being performed in repertory by the politically minded Potomac Theatre Project along with the one-act plays "Crave" by Sarah Kane and "Somewhere in the Pacific" by Neal Bell.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07082008/entertainment/theater/venetians_blind_to_merits_of_political_a_119014.htm
Scenes From An Execution probes the relationship between art and power
CFA production is Boston-area premiere of Howard Barker’s epic play
By Brian Fitzgerald
CFA Associate Professor Paula Langton plays Galactia in Scenes from an Execution. Photo by Stratton McCrady
Scenes from an Execution is an epic about a young woman painter in renaissance Venice. But the play has extraordinary relevance for today’s audience, says director Jim Petosa, because it centers on a conflict between an artist’s need to be true to herself and the demands of her patron. The play is being presented by the College of Fine Arts during the next two weekends at the Boston Center for the Arts.
The painter, Galactia, is determined to depict with her brush the true brutality of a naval sea battle, clashing with the political requirements of the fresco desired by the Venetian authorities who have commissioned the work, according to Petosa, a CFA professor and director of the school of theatre.
The Venetian state wants Galactia, played by Paula Langton, a CFA assistant professor, to memorialize and triumphalize in a painting the battle of Lepanto, “in which many Venetians lost their lives in a hapless mission of occupation over the Turks,” says Petosa, But the bold artist is “single-minded in the pursuit of the truth” in her work.
Petosa points out that Langton is well suited for the part of Galactia — and as a teacher, “Paula possesses that unique combination of skill, instinct, and visceral connection to her material that makes the role a natural for her,” he says. “As a school, we have come to recognize that some of the best teaching occurs when we directly collaborate with our students. Paula’s work on this play, and the remarkable student performances that are supporting her, is a wonderful example of the effectiveness of that approach.”
Students appreciate Petosa’s style as well. “He’s incredibly articulate,” says Therese Barbato (CFA’06), who plays Galactia’s daughter Supporta. “His vision for the characters is crisp. There’s no ambiguity.”
Scenes from an Execution, written by British playwright Howard Barker in 1984, will be performed on Friday, December 9, at 8 p.m., Saturday, December 10, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, December 11, at 2 p.m., at the Calderwood Pavilion’s Wimberly Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. There will also be performances December 15 to 18 (click here for the complete list of performances and times).
Tickets for Scenes from an Execution are $10 for the general public and $8 for BU alumni, students, and senior citizens. Members of the BU community can receive one free ticket (subject to availability) with BU ID at the door on the day of the performance. To order tickets, call 617-933-8600 or visit http://www.bostontheatrescene.com/.
Scenes From an Execution kills in box office
Steve Hoppe
Issue date: 11/20/03 Section: Life!
Written by Howard Barker, Scenes from an Execution combines extremely dense text with profound visual imagery, which Director Jim Peck and the rest of the company execute with clarity and precision.
Scenes is set in Renaissance-era Venice shortly after the devastating battle of Le Panto and is a discourse about art’s role in shaping the minds of the public. The main character, Galactia, portrayed by Actor-in-Residence Devon Allen, is selected by the state of Venice to create a work of art that will instill the spirit of victory in the Venetian citizens. Galactia, however, morally wrestles with this commission and believes that she should show the truth of the battle through her painting.
Under the direction of Jim Peck, Professor of Theatre, Scenes aims to enlighten the audience about the reality of war and its psychological effects on society. Much of the play features an intense dialogue concerning this issue between such varying groups as artists, soldiers and government officials, each of which have their separate opinions. Through the different perspectives of these three groups, the audience is exposed to the implicit desires and moral dilemmas of the characters.
Allen’s bold portrayal of Galactia not only carried the performance, but also revealed the vulnerability of Barker’s characters. Galactia’s lover, Carpeta, played by Nick Thompson-Miller ’04, explores his own art, morals and love for Galactia through an immense personal struggle conveyed by Thompson-Miller with bravado. Carpeta’s internal struggle echoes Galactia’s search truth.
Representing the government, Justin Brehm ’05, plays Urgentino with humor and charm. Urgentino’s own struggle between life and art drives much of the action of the play and adds an influential force over the lives of Galactia and Carpeta.
The rest of the large ensemble also gave an excellent performance that added depth and humanity to this stimulating work. Each character was unique and brought it’s individuality to the performance.
Scenes from an Execution runs through Nov. 23 in the Studio Theatre, located in Trexler Pavilion.
http://media.www.muhlenbergweekly.com/media/storage/paper300/news/2003/11/20/Life/Scenes.From.An.Execution.Kills.In.Box.Office-563279.shtml Scenes is set in Renaissance-era Venice shortly after the devastating battle of Le Panto and is a discourse about art’s role in shaping the minds of the public. The main character, Galactia, portrayed by Actor-in-Residence Devon Allen, is selected by the state of Venice to create a work of art that will instill the spirit of victory in the Venetian citizens. Galactia, however, morally wrestles with this commission and believes that she should show the truth of the battle through her painting.
Under the direction of Jim Peck, Professor of Theatre, Scenes aims to enlighten the audience about the reality of war and its psychological effects on society. Much of the play features an intense dialogue concerning this issue between such varying groups as artists, soldiers and government officials, each of which have their separate opinions. Through the different perspectives of these three groups, the audience is exposed to the implicit desires and moral dilemmas of the characters.
Allen’s bold portrayal of Galactia not only carried the performance, but also revealed the vulnerability of Barker’s characters. Galactia’s lover, Carpeta, played by Nick Thompson-Miller ’04, explores his own art, morals and love for Galactia through an immense personal struggle conveyed by Thompson-Miller with bravado. Carpeta’s internal struggle echoes Galactia’s search truth.
Representing the government, Justin Brehm ’05, plays Urgentino with humor and charm. Urgentino’s own struggle between life and art drives much of the action of the play and adds an influential force over the lives of Galactia and Carpeta.
The rest of the large ensemble also gave an excellent performance that added depth and humanity to this stimulating work. Each character was unique and brought it’s individuality to the performance.
Scenes from an Execution runs through Nov. 23 in the Studio Theatre, located in Trexler Pavilion.
Production Photos
Embassy Studio, Central School of Speech and Drama, London/2002Director: Debbie Seymore -
Setting and Costumes: Polly Lawrence
LIGHTING DESIGNER: WILL EVANS
"Originally a radio play, one of Barker's best plays. We had a simple set of a pair of doors and fifteen white lines suspended across the space. Lighting through the wires was a challenge but in the end, successfully achieved. "
Hudston Guild Theatre in Chelsea (NYC)
May 25-June 10, 2007
NEIL BECKER (Scenic Designer)
ZANDER TELLER (Director, Associate Producer)
Joe Novak (Lighting Designer)
http://www.qedproductions.org/our_past/scenes_execution/
http://www.qedproductions.org/our_past/scenes_execution/
The Unknown TheatreLA, California
February 17th, 2006 - April 1st, 2006
Directed and designed by Chris Covics
Assistant Director: Vanessa Waters
Costume design and construction: Jill Fouts
Music and sound design: David Permenter
Belvoir Street Theatre
1993
Surry Hills, Australia
Designer: Jennie Tate.
Lighting Designer: Mark Shelton.
Composer: Cathy Milliken
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