taliswoman

taliswoman

17th nov 2009 - 27th nov 2009

guildhall, guildhall lane, leicester LE1 5FQ


Raison D’etre Theatre Company presents
TALISWOMAN
a new play by Diane Speakman

'I cut through his neck. how the blood sings!'

Rome 1611: the baroque is in its infancy and the church is raining money. Artists fight for lucrative commissions and fight amongst themselves. Amidst a chiaroscuro world of violence, betrayal and lust, a young girl yearns to paint; taught by her father and inspired by his friend Caravaggio. Her talent is recognized and envied by Agostiono Tassi, an artist whose violation of this young artists culminates in a brutal 7 month trial where violation is condemned, but also re-enacted.

London 1640: Civil war looms and witches are hunted. Amidst revolution and fear, King Charles I commissions an acclaimed woman artist from Italy. Artemisia Gentileschi arrives at court, first woman artist of the Baroque. She is all her own work. TALISWOMAN is an imaginative vision of the incredible true story of this pioneering artist, her resurrection and her brave journey toward herself: Artemisia Gentileschi fecit.

Diane Speakman is former Drama Editor at Cambridge University Press; she has also been a senior member of the editorial staff of Argosy, and Assistant Editor of Granta. Diane has written for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Stage, and such periodicals as Drama and Everywoman. Major plays include A COUPLA HOTTUNZ, Half Moon Theatre, 1990; BOUNDARIES, Norwich Playhouse, 1996; AN HONEST ACTRESS, developed at The Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, 2004. Diane’s writing appears in Female Voices, Fighting Lives (Raymond Williams Award, 1992).

The production was accompanied by a gallery exhibition in The Mayor’s Parlour of copies and prints of the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi’s most famous works. The exhibition also exhibited modern interpretations of the artist’s work by local/regional artists.

artists include:

Loz Atkinson

Emma Tooth

Daisy Julian

Joanne Wilton

Alice Kell

Christine Gray



I chose to be inspired by Artemisia Gentileschi's piece 'Judith Slaying Holofernes' as it was the one I initially recognised and had a gut reation to.

My version was created digitally - photographing live models and placing them into a bespoke, digitally constructed background. I have referenced the original work by using similar lighting, use of space and colours. I like the look of apathy captured on Judiths face, it is almost a morbid concentration on finishing the gruesome job. The lighting adds to the drama of the story and the messy business of getting Holofernes's head off. The lack of detail in the gore and the darkness of the image, is intended to make the viewer fill in the gaps as the imagination is always so much worse than what can be captured - a suggestion is all that is needed.

When reading the story behind the work I found the conflict caused by the basic plot, Judith getting Holofernes drunk, seducing and then killing him to save her town, and the moral message of the tale, quite amusing as it is a biblical story. I wanted to highlight this almost hypocritical view, by portraying the more sexual side of the story, enhancing this juxtaposion of interests between a good deed and sin. It also makes me chuckle how the Bible, the Christian religion and Catholicism in particular, picks and chooses its heroines and heretics, usually not being able to decide whether to embrace or outcast women.
Like Artemisia I wanted to capture the progression in equality and strength that women have fought to attain over the years. Having Judith and Holofernes against each other, one on one, sets an even playing field, with Judith's maidservant being the look out, co-seducer and almost equal to Judith rather than just her aid. But I do believe, all be it slowly, times have moved on and by catching the subtleties of the seduction in the remnants of the struggle (now that the slaying is over) signifies these changes and, I hope, shows that we are all just people with many differences, but dispite these differences are all equal.

here are some other photos of the exhibition and symposium event