Botticelli in the Fire at Woolly Mammoth Theatre

This ambitious ancient-modern mashup shows the spark of the culture war between Italian Renaissance artist and smoldering sensualist Sandro Botticelli, who's in the midst of painting his famed Venus on a half-shell, and the conservative priest who's challenging the relaxed morality of Lorenzo de Medici's Florence. That real-life historical conflict led to the "bonfire of the vanities" -- the burning of "sinful" items like art and books. Inspired by these actual events, Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill gives Botticelli an apprentice/lover (none other that Leonardo da Vinci), and then traps him between the church and the powerful Medicis, forcing him to make an impossible choice. This American premiere of Botticelli in the Fire closes out the Woolly Mammoth Theatre's 38th season.