Breach Theatre have brought their show, It’s True, It’s True, It’s True, to Oxford’s North Wall, and it’s exciting to see an extremely full auditorium for what feels like a really important play for this moment in history. At face value, it seems surprising to see a full house for a play based on some 17^th-century Italian court transcripts, but as soon as the action begins, it becomes clear how relevant this story is for today.

The play centres round a long-running rape trial in 1612 Rome. Painter Agostino Tassi is accused of the rape of a young woman, Artemisia Gentileschi. He is a friend of her father and her sometime art tutor, and is greatly respected in the city, frequently commissioned to paint for the Pope, and seemingly well-known at the court, but Artemisia testifies that he has forced his way into her home, using his friendship with her father as a guise, and that he has raped her.

The small cast – Kathryn Bond, Ellice Stevens, and Sophie Steer – rotate through the various characters in the story: accuser and accused, court officials, and Tutzia, Artemisia’s female companion. Dressed in men’s suits, which highlights the male focus of the court’s narrative, the characters attempt to devalue Artemisia’s testimony by denouncing her character, swearing against her virginity, asking her demeaning questions, all the time paying respect to Tassi, and his status as an artist and a member of the community. Stevens as Artemisia bares herself, both emotionally and physically, as she tries to make the audience and the court understand what she has experienced at the hands of her rapist. She describes two of her paintings, based on biblical tales, as a way of telling something of her experience – Susanna and the Elders, showing a young naked woman trying to resist the unwelcome advances of powerful religious figures; and Judith Slaying Holofernes, where a woman and her friend kill a man who is trying to steal from her – a really effective and vivid portrayal of both the powerlessness of her situation, and her wish to take matters into her own hands. The only thing which didn’t work for me in the play was the music, which jarred and often overpowered the central message.

In the #MeToo era, it is impossible not to see modern parallels with this narrative. Watching Tassi’s rage and incoherency at the accusations, faced with Artemisia’s calm clarity, I couldn’t help but think of Brett Kavanaugh’s US Supreme Court hearings when faced with the clear, courageous testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, he resorted to similar bluster and anger. The fact that Tassi is found guilty, but is banished from Rome for no more than a few days and then allowed to return to his same prestigious position speaks of the multiple celebrity “comebacks” after credible accusations against them.

This is the sort of play that will (should) make you furious, and I highly recommend it. The theatre group pairs with local charities as they tour, which is a wonderful way to channel the importance of their subject into something practical; in Oxford, they support the Oxfordshire Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre (OSARCC). It’s difficult to watch, but more than worthwhile!   ★★★★☆    @BookingAround    30^th October 2019