Botticelli in the Fire / Sunday in Sodom
Botticelli in the Fire/Sunday in Sodom is the first double bill acclaimed Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill has ever written, and it was first performed as the final production of Canadian Stage’s 15/16 season. This production, produced in Kingston by my company Capstone Collective, was the second-ever iteration of this show. Since then, it has had productions in the United States and England.
Botticelli in the Fire reimagines the story of Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli and his apprentice (and lover) Leonardo da Vinci as they attempt to navigate the increasingly dangerous political climate of Florence as the fundamentalist friar Savonarola begins to gain power and influence in the city, in reaction to rise and spread of the “plague” that spread across the city. This story attempts to answer the question, “What is a Sodomite?”, and explores themes of power, otherness, isolation, betrayal and the sacrifices one must make to achieve a life of radiant beauty.
Sunday in Sodom reimagines the biblical story of Sodom & Gomorrah told exclusively through Edith’s – Lot’s wife – point of view. In the original narrative, the only mention of Lot’s wife is when she turns into a pillar of salt. In this retelling, however, Edith is the sole narrator of her own story that is situated in the war-ridden city of Sodom. This story attempts to answer the question, “Why did Lot’s wife look back?”, and explores themes of loyalty, oppression and the extents to which mothers will go to protect their children.
Photos courtesy of Billy Schwartz
“If Botticelli in the Fire is an amusing first half, Sunday in Sodom is a beautiful second.”
It was a privilege to be able to direct and star in these productions, both of which I set in 1979 – the year when AIDS was introduced to Western society as the “gay cancer”, and the year when Soviet Russia invaded Afghanistan, the event that marked beginning of Afghanistan’s stripping of women’s rights for the subsequent 3 decades.
GALLERY
