Scenes from an Execution

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.