Upcoming performances with
Pettirosso Productions
Vanishing Point
The Lost Painting of Artemisia Gentileschi
A Workshop Production: This play is in development, and the actors will be reading from scripts. Think first draft of the performance!
Written & Costume Design by Robin Masi Carlson
Directed by Zach Swasta
Artemisia and Tassi
Self Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, Royal Art Collection, London.
June 21, 2025
First Parish Church – Concord
2PM and 7:30PM
20 Lexington Road, Concord, MA 01742
$10 dollar cash donation appreciated
This play intertwines the story of Baroque Artist Artemisia Gentileschi and Gregory Buchakjian a contemporary Lebanese art historian into a tale of intrigue, passion and discovery.
Artemisia Gentileschi was a well-known painter during the Italian Baroque period. She experienced many tragedies that she successfully overcame with strength, courage, persistence and a fierce talent. Among her patrons were European royalty, the papacy, and the esteemed collectors of Italy including the Medici family. In the 1630s she painted a work that was the culmination of all her creativity, intelligence, struggles, and triumphs.
However, it became lost to history.
CAST
Artemisia Gentileschi
Angelina Kemmett
Gregory Buchakjian
Saeed Kayyani
Artemisia The Elder
Helene Rassias Miles
Orazio Gentileschi
Richard Griffiths
Prudenzia Gentileschi
& Prudenzia Stiatessi
Molly Weinberg
Marietta Castelucci
& Stage Manager
Sally Rose Zuckert
Agostino Tassi
David Murgo
Micali/Caravaggio
Andrew Calvagno
Donna Tuzia
Melinda Beliveau
Pietro Stiatessi
Zach Swasta
The Judge/
King Phillip IV
Stephen Turner
The Specter
Amanda Tardif
Cinematographer
Ben Kuettel
Please contact us for a reading or performance of the play in your classroom, theater, or exhibition space.
Vanishing Point (Punta di Fuga) The Life and Work of Baroque Artist Artemisia Gentileschi
In the light of a decade of groundbreaking scholarship and new discoveries of Artemisia Gentileschi’s work artist and playwright Robin Masi is reprising her 2000 play in order to showcase Artemisia’s story from a previous conveyance as a feminist revenge painter to one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance. The new version of the play is proud to feature Dr. Gregory Buchakjian’s (art historian, Beirut, Lebanon) discovery of a new work by Artemisia.
The play comes in three versions and can be performed in museums, galleries, classrooms and alternative spaces.
- A 45-minute reading/performance (1‑3 actors) of scene excerpts with highlights of her life.
- A reading or full production (90 minutes) which has the updated version of the play and Artemisia’s later years and successes.
- A 30 – 60 minute lecture/presentation of the work and life of Artemisia Gentileschi.
Work by Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia Gentileschi, Self Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura) c. 1638-9, Oil on canvas, 98.6 x 75.2cm.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and Holofefrnes 1620, Le Gallerie Degli Uffizi, Oil on canvas, 146.5 x 108cm.
Past Performances in Rome, NYC, and Boston
Background
From 1994 – 1998 Robin Masi wrote a play about and created costumes for a production about the early life of Artemisia Gentileschi. It was performed from 1999 – 2001 as a series of staged costumed readings in Rome at the Palazzo Venezia in conjunction with the Artemisia and Orazio Gentileschi exhibition sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Palo Strinati, the Cultural Superintendent for the Italian Government approved the play to be performed by Italian actors within the Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi exhibition. Thousands of viewers visiting the exhibit experienced scenes from her life as they were seeing the works of art. The play was also performed in Boston (Kate Caffrey, Threshold Theater); and in New York city (Italian Cultural Center).