About This Show
Set in 17th century Rome, Malta, and Naples, Caravaggio is the story of the great Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, the father of the Baroque era, a man ahead of his time, whose daring art and volatile personality attracted the favor and wrath of the church he both loved and reviled. Whether fielding commissions from the Vatican and being extolled by his mentor and patron, the Cardinal Del Monte, or confronting head-on the cruelty of the Inquisition, Caravaggio’s 38 year life was one fraught with creativity and violence. After killing Ranuccio Tomassini in a brawl in Rome’s Piazza del Popola, Caravaggio becomes a fugitive, and seeks refuge in Malta, only to be imprisoned and tortured at the hands of the Grand Inquisitor. Facing a death sentence from Pope Paul, and having escaped the Inquisitors prison, he arrives in Naples, a fugitive once more. His art never relenting, even as his body did.
The staged reading is followed by a Q & A session with playwright Richard Vetere.