Scenes from an Execution

Scenes from an Execution is a play by Howard Barker, first written as a BBC radio drama in 1984 and staged in 1990 at the Almeida Theatre. It follows Galactia, a renowned painter in sixteenth-century Venice, who is commissioned by the Republic to paint a canvas celebrating the Battle of Lepanto. In conflict with the authorities, she insists on depicting the horror of the war rather than a glorious victory.