The Royal Shakespeare Company is to stage the world première of Anders Lustgarten’s play The Seven Acts of Mercy which takes its name from Caravaggio’s 1607 painting.
The play moves from the creation of the masterpiece in Naples in 1606 to present-day Bootle where retired dock worker Leon teaches his grandson about compassion. Around them, a community is disintegrating under the pressure of years of economic and political degradation.
The painting, “The Seven Works of Mercy”, also known as “The Seven Acts of Mercy”, is in the Church of Pio Monte della Misericordia in Naples. It is inspired by the Book of Matthew chapter 25 verse 35 and depicts seven acts of mercy in traditional Catholic belief: bury the dead; visit the imprisoned; feed the hungry; shelter the homeless; clothe the naked; visit the sick; refresh the thirsty. It was painted after Caravaggio fled Rome for Naples with a price on his head for murder.
Anders Lustgarten, who is making his RSC debut, credited his admiration of Caravaggio for his inspiration to write The Seven Acts of Mercy.
“His desire to tell the truth about the world and reclaim art for real people motivates my own writing. The aesthetic of his work and his personal violence and self-loathing are intensely theatrical. The idea of compassion, which animates ‘The Seven Acts of Mercy’ and his work in general, is drastically needed in the modern world.”
Patrick O’Kane, who played Macbeth in Conall Morrison’s 2007 RSC production, is Caravaggio. Tom Georgeson plays retired dock-worker Leon. Edmund Kingsley returns to the RSC to play Marchese. He was last on the RSC stage in Marina Carr’s Hecuba in the Swan Theatre in 2015. Sixteen-year-old T J Jones who has no formal acting training plays Leon’s grandson Mickey.
The cast also includes Joe Allen (Jimmy), Sally Bankes (Sandra), James Corrigan (Vincenzo), Lena Kaur (Donna), Patrick Knowles (Razor), Leon Lopez (Prime), Paul McEwan (Damien), Allison McKenzie (Lavinia), Nicky Priest (Danny), Paislie Reid (Jennifer), Anthony Renshaw (company), Gyuri Sarossy (Lee) and Eloise Secker (Emily).
The RSC’s deputy artistic director Erica Whyman will direct the production which is designed by Tom Piper. Lighting is by Charles Balfour and music by Isobel Waller-Bridge. Movement is by Michael Ashcroft and fights are directed by Paul Benzing. Video is by Nina Dunn, and text and voice work by Stephen Kemble.
The Seven Acts of Mercy runs in the Swan Theatre at Stratford from Thursday 24 November until Friday 10 February.