Scenes from an Execution

By Howard Barker

Directed by: Michael Harding

SDS is proud to present this rarely-staged play, in which artistic conviction, ambition, patronage and politics meet head-on.

The Muslim dominance of the Eastern Mediterranean has been overturned at the Battle of Lepanto by a coalition of Western States. The victorious Council of Venice has commissioned a vast celebratory painting to mark this illustrious victory.

Controversially, the Doge selects Galactia, a female artist, to execute the commission. Her mastery of the depiction of the human anatomy has brought her critical acclaim and placed her alongside the great painters of the age, at a time when women rarely achieved such recognition.  As the painting develops, however, her portrayal of the horrifying reality of war diverts her from the celebration of noble and glorious victory her patrons anticipate.

Drawn into confrontation with the state, her daughters and her lover, Barker’s compelling play explores the relationship of the artist with society and authority.  Galactia is believed to be based on the real painter, Artemisia Gentileschi.