I’m a big fan of Tom Jacobson’s playwriting because he always seems to find a way to illuminate current agonies with past events in a reassuring way, letting audiences know that “this, too, shall pass”…. but only if we stay vigilant. Such is the case with his latest, Tasty Little Rabbit, which reveals the fascinating tale from the late 19th century set in an infamous part of Sicily where men interested in other men went to luxuriate in the artistic possibilities of Italian youth.
At this time, Oscar Wilde had not yet created the sort of identity that brought gay life out of the shadows, so 1987 Taormina in Sicily served as a sort of underground destination for what was termed “Uranian” writers and artists, so named after the goddess, Aphrodite.
In his play, Jacobson interweaves those heady days, when amateur photographer, Baron Wilhelm von Gloden (Robert Mammana) staged a succession of classical photographs featuring the beautiful youth, Pancrazio Buchiuni (Massi Pregoni) with the support of Poet Sebastian Melmoth (Rob Nagle), that set the tone for Mussolini’s eventual obscenity charges.
The play is cinematically written in short scenes, which veer back and forth in time, with Mammana and Nagle taking on several other parts in order to tell the story. The complexity of the time frame, and the transitions in character, make Jacobson’s tale a bit difficult to follow, but the juxtaposition of the beautiful photographs with the nastiness of the Fascist crack-down makes it clear. Director George Bamber makes the most of Moving Arts’ tiny stage which limits the variety of staging opportunities, but Nicholas Santiago’s background projections help give a sense of scene changes. Veteran designers Dan Weingarten (lighting) and Garry Lennon (costumes), contribute as well. But despite its limitations, Tasty Little Rabbit has a compelling warning about censorship in our time. I’d love to see this on the screen.
Tasty Little Rabbit continues at Moving Arts, 3191 Casitas Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90039, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4p.m., through June 6th, with a special added performance on Thursday, June 5th. For tickets ($33 with student rates at $20), go to: https://movingarts.org/project/tasty-little-rabbit/
