Scenes from an Execution Essay Example For Students

Scenes from an Execution Essay In English playwright Howard Barkers black comedy Scenes from an Execution, Galactica, a 16th-century woman painter, is commissioned by the Venetian republic to commemorate a bloody battle until her honest portrayal of the event has her condemned as an enemy of the state and imprisoned. Director Robert Allan Ackerman, who directs the plays U.S.-premier production, running through May 9 at Los Angeless Mark Taper Forum, was drawn to the script because he found the politics in the play all too similar to those just across town in Hollywood. He was happy to discover that acclaimed British actor Juliet Stevenson (whom he directed in London in Lanford Wilsons Burn This, and who makes her American stage debut as Barkers foursquare heroine) detected the same parallel which is one reason she suggested the play to the Taper in the first place. Ackerman, who recently directed the PBS film Mrs. Cage, says Barkers play calls to mind the movie industrys proclivity for judging artistic merit on the basis of a single work, noting that heads can roll if a film doesnt do what its supposed to. Scenes from an Execution designers Richard Macdonald (scenic concept) and Yael Pardess (sets) juxtapose contemporary Hollywood clothing with Venetian architecture, using stone and lattice to evoke the labyrinthine quality of the ancient citys streets. For Ackerman, the thematic correspondences reflect the timeless struggle between the desire for fame and the need to maintain artistic integrity. I think those tensions can be found in almost any serious artist, he reasons. Thats why the play is accessible.