The Exception

A brilliant painter. A fiery personality. An influence on Rembrandt and Velazquez. The talk of 17th-century Rome. The exception to all the rules—Artemisia Gentileschi, a teenage girl! The Exception tantalizingly blends fact and fiction in a provocative, entertaining and timely drama about this controversial artist. The play takes place from 1611 to 1612, when Artemisia charges her tutor, the handsome, enigmatic Agostino Tassi, with rape. But there is a twist to the case. Tassi, for complex reasons, has stolen a painting of hers. Artemisia disobeys her father and seeks a civil trial so that she may be represented by an advocate. Shockingly, she chooses Lucia Baldassare, the brilliant daughter of a recently deceased advocate. But the trial raises more questions than it answers. What really was Artemisia and Agostino's relationship? Is Artemisia using the scandal of the trial to bring attention to her work? And why has she lied to Lucia? This play examines the nature of the creative spirit and the limitations of even the most all-consuming love.