May Elbaz

Layna Fisher

Stolen Chair presents Commedia dell'Artemisia, a masked farce in rhyming couplets, satirizing the controversial rape trial of Italian Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi. As the teenage virtuosa Artemisia tries to escape the clutches of her miserly father, she becomes entwined with Agostino Tassi, a master painter and criminal who would rather screw than woo. Transforming these complex historical figures into commedia stock characters, Stolen Chair irreverently eviscerates history, hypocrisy, rape, romance, art and artifice.

"Kiran Rikhye's script is clever...witty...and gives the audience rich food for thought. Cameron J. Oro has...has an amazingly commanding voice and precisely the light quality of movement needed for such demanding work. David Bengali...is a true virtuoso... The company is clearly on the right path." -NYtheatre.com

"...one of the most elegantly scripted 'rapes' in the history of theatre...[E]xquisite craftsmanship...never ceases to hold the audience's attention."
-5th Street Review