Sacrificing Art for Love

Botticelli in the Fire – First Floor Theater

The Early Italian Renaissance artist, Sandro Botticelli, painted a wide range of portraits and religious subjects, particularly dozens of paintings of the Madonna and Child. However, ironically he’s more famous for his few majestic mythological works. Botticelli’s particularly revered for his enormous canvas entitled, “The Birth of Venus.” It depicts the completely nude, newly-born Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty, arriving upon the shore while standing in a giant scallop shell. It is the story of Botticelli’s creation of this painting that inspired Jordan Tannahill to write this two-act play. The accomplished and much celebrated and awarded Millennial Canadian filmmaker, director, multidisciplinary artist and prolific playwright is also, like Botticelli, a controversial artist. In this way, Tannahill and Botticelli have something in common.

First of all, this play is a wild work of fiction. It doesn’t pretend to be an historically accurate portrayal of the life of Botticelli, but instead an imaginative, bawdy fantasy, loosely based upon a few facts. We know this from the very beginning when Alex Benito Rodriguez, the actor playing this punk version of Sandro Botticelli, swaggers down the aisle, with a bottle of wine in his hand. He has all the brashness, bravado and charisma of a legendary rock star, like Mick Jagger. Sandro warns the audience to turn off their cell phones and threatens to kill anyone who doesn’t obey. He also tells us that “this isn’t a play; it’s an extravaganza.” And, boy! He’s certainly right.

 Clad in tight, black leather lace-up trousers and boots, topped with a filmy black poet’s shirt with a plunging neckline, our encounter with Botticelli gives an indication of what lies ahead. We are about to experience an audacious, anachronistic depiction of a chapter in the artist’s life. Tannahill’s play starts out with a bang and continues to dazzle with decadent delight. This story is, in many ways, kind of a multimedia presentation. There are beautifully performed songs and dances, sexy tableaux, frightening dramatic moments, a bit of comedy and scenes of erotic intensity. The dialogue is contemporary and adult. It’s heavily peppered with profanity, so it might be best to leave the kids at home. The relationships depicted may, or may not, have actually happened, but this story is in the telling, not the told.

Essentially the play is about how Sandro Botticelli’s commission to create a portrait of Clarice Orsini, the lovely, but temperamental wife of Lorenzo de’ Medici, sets off a series of dangerous and tragic events. While pursuing his artistic endeavors, Botticelli is privileged to live and work in Florence, Italy, in the de’ Medici Palace. He has everything he needs and desires, including plenty of food, drink and enough money to enjoy the good life. He also has the protection, trust and deep friendship of Lorenzo de’ Medici, as well as the lusty, romantic attentions of Medici’s wife. Being gay, or possibly bisexual, Sandro also enjoys constant sexual companionship with a number of younger men. Sandro shares a special relationship with Leonardo da Vinci, depicted in this play as his younger, more talented apprentice and lover. But when a clash between the commoners and the elite liberals erupts, spurned on by a fiery friar named Savonarola, danger threatens to end Botticelli’s debauched existence. As the Plague sweeps across Europe, believed to be the result of the perverted, immoral lifestyles of artists and their followers, Sandro must decide whether or not he will sacrifice his Art for Love.

First and foremost, Alex Benito Rodriguez is sensational as the spoiled, punk artist, Sandro Botticelli. He’s handsome, sexy and compelling in this role. Equally impressive is Neala Barron as Clarice Orsini. One of the highlights of this production is Ms Barron’s mellifluous soprano voice taking the lead in the musical numbers. First Floor Theater company member Andrew Cutler is a strong, intense and frightening Lorenzo de’ Medici; and Janece Upton, as Madre Maria, and Yuchi Chiu, as Sandro’s gay friend Poggio di Chullu, are also standouts in this production. Unfortunately, Christopher Meister, playing Friar Girolamo Savonarola, isn’t nearly as fiery or charismatic as one would expect; and John Payne’s Leonardo da Vinci is so underplayed that they often fade into the background. They seems to lack energy and deliver their lines so softly that their often difficult to hear or understand.

Artistically and skillfully directed with grit and gusto, Bo Frazier has made this often startling, eye-popping production a unique theatrical experience. They impress with an eye for minute detail, creating a vibrantly-told story for today’s audiences. Those patrons fortunate enough to have seen the musical “American Psycho” during its short Broadway run will have an idea of the high-tech atmosphere of this play. Lauren Nichols’ stark scenic design enhances Frazier’s direction and focuses on the characters and the story they’re telling. Benjamin Carne’s lighting not only illuminates the stage, but directs our attention and highlights the various beats of the plot. Willow James’ sound design adds one more layer to this theatrical painting; and Hilary Rubio’s Renaissance/Modern costumes add so much more about each character. 

There will still be plays like “The Cherry Orchard” and “The Importance of Being Earnest” in our theater repertoire, that’s certain. But like it or not, this is the new direction that the theatre is traveling. For many audiences, Jordan Tannahill’s play may not be considered a great script, but there’s no denying that it certainly provides food for thought and motivation for spirited conversation. It dazzles the senses with its talent, spectacle and the wickedly wild unexpected.          

Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented September 22-November 5 by First Floor Theater at The Den’s Janet Bookspan Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the Den box office, or by going to www.firstfloortheater.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.