Feminism, Truth and the Misplacement of Belief in Breach Theatre's It's True, It's True, It's True

Abstract

Breach Theatre’s It’s True, It’s True, It’s True is a post-verbatim play, first performed in 2018, that restages the trial of Agostino Tassi for the rape of the Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Set in the patriarchal setting of the courtroom, the play is staged in a space in which belief is misplaced, and justice withheld. This article explores the ways in which Breach Theatre has created an empowering, feminist play, in which satire and sincerity collide to offer a nuanced, complex, and contemporarily relevant retelling of Gentileschi’s story. It considers how the connection of a Renaissance subject matter with modern visual and spoken languages aligns the gender politics of two seemingly different times, and reveals them to be frighteningly resemblant.