Scenes from an Execution – Tooth and Sinew

Overview

Set in Renaissance Venice, Howard Barker’s Scenes from an Execution is a staged argument between art and power. Anna Galactica (Lucy Miller) has been commissioned to paint a public work depicting the Battle of Lepanto (1571) when the southern European Catholics defeated the Ottoman Empire. Galactica is compelled to show the blood and guts and “meat sliced” that is the reality of war, whereas the Doge (Mark Lee), representing the state’s interests, would prefer something more celebratory.

Barker’s Renaissance setting makes the argument between artist and state too grandiose to translate directly to today, given the impossibility of achieving dissident status in a Western democracy. People may not have loved Patricia Piccinini's Skywhale, for instance, but she was was never going to go to jail for it. But the play does speak to the topical problem of artistic integrity in the face of commercial pressures through the character of Carpeta (Jeremy Waters), who is happy to compromise his integrity for money.

Director Richard Hilliar (Wittenberg) has opted for a straight up and down interpretation of the play, which works for the most part, but I have a hunch that Barker’s portrayal of the baddie politicians versus the pure-of-heart artist is more self-aware and comic than the sincerity we see presented here.

Costume designer Christie Bennett has done an impressive job of sourcing puffed sleeves, men’s tights and velvet galore on an indie budget and sound designer Nate Edmondson successfully transports us to the 16th century with his compositions, though some of his more literal effects — such as a curtain being drawn or a crowd applauding — are superfluous.

To the bloody great cast. Lucy Miller seems to relish the challenge of bringing the sensual, whip-smart Galactica to life, switching from seductress to master painter to mother and philosopher without batting an eyelid. Matching her in quick-wittedness are Jeremy Waters as Carpeta and Mark Lee as the Doge. Lee is remarkable to watch, fast paced and agile, moving through the scenes at the sort of cracking pace necessary for a play this long.