Seven Acts of Mercy

<i>You have to be tough to be kind. That's what I've learned from you Granddad. Tough and fearless and strong. So that's what I'm going to be.</i><br/><br/>Naples 1606. Inside an unfinished church a painting is emerging from the darkness. The Seven Acts of Mercy is Caravaggio's masterpiece - and his first painting since he killed a man and fled Rome. As the artist works he is fueled by anger self-loathing and his driving need to create a work that speaks of compassion in a violent world. <br/><br/>Bootle the present day. A retired dock worker teaches his grandson as around them a community is disintegrating under the pressure of years of economic and political degradation. With all he has left a book of great works of art he tries to open the boy's eyes to the tragedy and beauty of the life he faces. And the boy reciprocates in the only way he knows.<br/><br/>Playing out across a gap of 400 years Anders Lustgarten's visceral play confronts the dangerous necessity of compassion in a world where it is in short supply. <i>The Seven Acts of Mercy </i>received its world premiere at the Swan Theatre RSC on 24 November 2016.