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Botticelli in the Fire and Sunday in Sodom
Botticelli in the Fire & Sunday in Sodom presents wildly apocryphal retellings of two events—one historic, one mythic—that reconsider the official record through decidedly queer and feminist lenses.
Painter Sandro Botticelli is an irrepressible libertine, renowned for his weekend-long orgies as much as he is for his great masterpieces of the early Renaissance. But things get complicated when Lorenzo de’ Medici commissions Botticelli to paint a portrait of his wife, Clarice. What emerges is the famed The Birth of Venus and a love triangle involving Botticelli’s young assistant Leonardo that risks setting their world alight. For while Florence of 1497 is a liberal city, civil unrest is stoked by the charismatic friar Girolamo Savonarola who begins calling for sodomites to be burned at the pyre.
In the Bible she is unnamed, referred to simply as “Lot’s wife.” In Sunday in Sodom, Edith recounts how her husband welcomed two American soldiers into their house, the fury this sparked in their village, and the chain of events that led to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. But most importantly, Edith sets the record straight as to why, after being told not to, she looked back upon the destruction of her hometown and turned into a pillar of salt.
Painter Sandro Botticelli is an irrepressible libertine, renowned for his weekend-long orgies as much as he is for his great masterpieces of the early Renaissance. But things get complicated when Lorenzo de’ Medici commissions Botticelli to paint a portrait of his wife, Clarice. What emerges is the famed The Birth of Venus and a love triangle involving Botticelli’s young assistant Leonardo that risks setting their world alight. For while Florence of 1497 is a liberal city, civil unrest is stoked by the charismatic friar Girolamo Savonarola who begins calling for sodomites to be burned at the pyre.
In the Bible she is unnamed, referred to simply as “Lot’s wife.” In Sunday in Sodom, Edith recounts how her husband welcomed two American soldiers into their house, the fury this sparked in their village, and the chain of events that led to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. But most importantly, Edith sets the record straight as to why, after being told not to, she looked back upon the destruction of her hometown and turned into a pillar of salt.
224 pages, Paperback
First published August 20, 2018
4 people are currently reading
399 people want to read
About the author
Jordan Tannahill
26 books125 followersJordan Tannahill is a Canadian novelist and playwright based in London.
His debut novel, Liminal, won France's 2021 Prix des Jeunes Libraires. His second novel, The Listeners, was a Canadian bestseller, and was shortlisted for the 2021 Giller Prize.
Tannahill is the author of several plays, and the book of essays, Theatre of the Unimpressed.
In 2019, CBC Arts named Tannahill as one of sixty-nine LGBTQ Canadians, living or deceased, who has shaped the country's history.
His debut novel, Liminal, won France's 2021 Prix des Jeunes Libraires. His second novel, The Listeners, was a Canadian bestseller, and was shortlisted for the 2021 Giller Prize.
Tannahill is the author of several plays, and the book of essays, Theatre of the Unimpressed.
In 2019, CBC Arts named Tannahill as one of sixty-nine LGBTQ Canadians, living or deceased, who has shaped the country's history.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 25, 2020
4.5, rounded up.
I'd definitely give the Botticelli play 5 stars, and am sorry a local production slated for next month has been cancelled, due to plague. Audacious, funny, heartbreaking - and it is one of the few modern plays I've read/seen in which (intentional) modern anachronisms didn't drive me bat-shit crazy!
The Sodom play, a one-act, is not quite on the same level, but does provide an intriguing feminist slant to the story, centered on the character of Lot's wife (here named Edith). The directions emphatically state she is not to move at ALL until the final moments of the play, which I am sure is a thrilling coup de theatre ... but the rest of the play meanders a bit.
I'd definitely give the Botticelli play 5 stars, and am sorry a local production slated for next month has been cancelled, due to plague. Audacious, funny, heartbreaking - and it is one of the few modern plays I've read/seen in which (intentional) modern anachronisms didn't drive me bat-shit crazy!
The Sodom play, a one-act, is not quite on the same level, but does provide an intriguing feminist slant to the story, centered on the character of Lot's wife (here named Edith). The directions emphatically state she is not to move at ALL until the final moments of the play, which I am sure is a thrilling coup de theatre ... but the rest of the play meanders a bit.
March 25, 2021
4.5
boticelli in the fire: 5
sunday in sodom: 4
these plays were so good! the fact that they were both somewhat modern retellings of these historical/biblical stories, it made them very easy to consume. the writing is witty, and the banter flows very nicely and they actually add smtg to the original stories. highly recommend!!
boticelli in the fire: 5
sunday in sodom: 4
these plays were so good! the fact that they were both somewhat modern retellings of these historical/biblical stories, it made them very easy to consume. the writing is witty, and the banter flows very nicely and they actually add smtg to the original stories. highly recommend!!
December 21, 2025
Botticelli in the Fire is an excellent play. Botticelli is a vulgar enfant terrible, Leonardo is his talented underling and docile paramour, and the two of them are working on Botticelli's famous The Birth of Venus, all while the sinister friar, Girolamo Savonarola, foments a crackdown on homosexuality and decadent art. While there is some semblance of history here, the play is all fantasy. Botticelli's sexuality is historical debate; Leonardo da Vinci was never his assistant, let alone lover; and while Botticelli was commissioned and supported by Lorenzo de Medici, he did not have an affair with his patron's wife. But Tannahill is not interested in historical fiction or scholarly reconstruction; his play mirrors back a contemporary struggle between bold art and puritan morals, free spirits and religious fervor, creative inspiration and conservative intolerance. His characters are recognizably modern, driving cars, eating peanut butter, and talking on mobile phones. They are outrageously camp, speaking in the familiar sassy register of urban gays. Tannahill strips of the Renaissance of any highbrow elitism.
And this is where Tannahill hits his comic stride. Consider this exchange between Sandro Botticelli, Poggio di Chullu and Leonardo da Vinci:
I love the banter: Sandro (never Botticelli) is always full of quips and innuendo; Poggio is condescending and queeny; Leonardo is cautious and formal. I also loved the later interaction between Botticelli and Savonarola (who has instigated burnings of gay men). Botticelli is a defiantly indiscreet dirty-talker:
What Tannahill's play does so brilliantly is denature and re-familiarize the Renaissance: great artists are presented not as towering intellects beyond modern comprehension but down-and-out libertines who talk back to authority figures. Their art is mercantile and secular, their humor is crass.
Maybe the play is a little heavy-handed and simplifies history into something too legibly modern, but overall it's witty fun and it offers a poignant ending in which two artists are, creatively and romantically, committed to their art and love—one and the same thing.
And this is where Tannahill hits his comic stride. Consider this exchange between Sandro Botticelli, Poggio di Chullu and Leonardo da Vinci:
Sandro: We apprenticed together back in the day
Poggio: I taught this fucker everything he knows
Sandro: Please if you taught me everything I know you'd be arrested
Poggio: Little word of advice, sweetie: don't fall in love with him
All his new apprentices do and it breaks my heart
Leonardo: Thanks. I'll take it under advisement
I love the banter: Sandro (never Botticelli) is always full of quips and innuendo; Poggio is condescending and queeny; Leonardo is cautious and formal. I also loved the later interaction between Botticelli and Savonarola (who has instigated burnings of gay men). Botticelli is a defiantly indiscreet dirty-talker:
Savonarola: I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised to receive your invitation
I was wondering when I would have the pleasure
Sandro: I can't imagine you've had much in your life
Savonarola: Is it true what they say?
That you've had a thousand lovers
Sandro: mmm... I think you might have an old source
What Tannahill's play does so brilliantly is denature and re-familiarize the Renaissance: great artists are presented not as towering intellects beyond modern comprehension but down-and-out libertines who talk back to authority figures. Their art is mercantile and secular, their humor is crass.
Maybe the play is a little heavy-handed and simplifies history into something too legibly modern, but overall it's witty fun and it offers a poignant ending in which two artists are, creatively and romantically, committed to their art and love—one and the same thing.
September 27, 2018
If I could make it so that praise is literally and constantly rained on Tannahill from this moment on then I would. There is so much bittersweet humor and truth packed into "Botticelli in the Fire" and "Sunday in Sodom", two plays that differ in length and subject but which are unified in their concern for the marginalized, the dismissed and disregarded in society. Some may dislike the fact that Tannahill reimagined/rewrote history in Botticelli; I loved it. The queerness was something I've found myself wondering about frequently in my art history courses as many of my professors mentioned that there have been speculations of artists like Michelangelo being gay, and Tannahill's play perfectly puts a spin on history that I would even dare call an exposure of the truth. "Sunday in Sodom" reminded me of the novel "The Book of Heaven" by Patricia Storace, which I adored and continue to adore. Tannahill proves that a play can be short and sweet without lacking any of the emotional depth one would find in a longer two-act play, beautifully reimagining the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in a way that will uncomfortably test those who have been closed minded until this point, and which will encourage further questioning and reexamination from those like myself, who have been questioning the order of things. Both plays were written in a way that made me feel like I was seeing them performed before my eyes, the directions simple and clear, yet I still would give so much to see these in person, to hang off of every word of brilliance.
November 21, 2018
Botticelli in the Fire and Sunday in Sodom is an anthology of two plays written by Jordan Tannahill. The theme of this anthology is a retelling of two momentous events – one historic and one mythical done in a modern-day queer and feminist retelling.
In Botticelli in the Fire imagines the famed painter Sandro Botticelli as an irrepressible seeker of love and pleasure, caught in sexual and political risk-taking. In Sunday in Sodom, Lot's wife, Edith, tells of the Biblical destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, but set in the present day times.
Botticelli in the Fire, renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli is sleeping both with Clarice Orsini, the wife of his patron, Lorenzo de' Medici, and the model for his new painting, and with his young assistant, an aspiring artist himself, Leonardo da Vinci.
Art, sex, and religion intersect as Sandro Botticelli tries to please both lovers, complete his painting, his Magnus opus, The Birth of Venus, and navigate both Lorenzo's possibly jealous curiosity and the single-minded tyranny of the friar Savonarola, who is seeking out and burning sodomites. In the end, he is faced with a moral dilemma that cuts to the core of his being: his art and his queer sexuality.
Sunday in Sodom, stars the biblical Lot's Wife, named Edith, who recounts the events leading to her leaving Sodom with her husband and daughter. It has to do with the entrance of two soldiers and air strikes. Edith brilliantly recounts the story standing frozen in her famous pillar of salt, only moving her head a little bit.
All in all, Botticelli in the Fire and Sunday in Sodom is a wonderful collection of plays from the brilliant playwright Jordan Tannahill.
In Botticelli in the Fire imagines the famed painter Sandro Botticelli as an irrepressible seeker of love and pleasure, caught in sexual and political risk-taking. In Sunday in Sodom, Lot's wife, Edith, tells of the Biblical destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, but set in the present day times.
Botticelli in the Fire, renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli is sleeping both with Clarice Orsini, the wife of his patron, Lorenzo de' Medici, and the model for his new painting, and with his young assistant, an aspiring artist himself, Leonardo da Vinci.
Art, sex, and religion intersect as Sandro Botticelli tries to please both lovers, complete his painting, his Magnus opus, The Birth of Venus, and navigate both Lorenzo's possibly jealous curiosity and the single-minded tyranny of the friar Savonarola, who is seeking out and burning sodomites. In the end, he is faced with a moral dilemma that cuts to the core of his being: his art and his queer sexuality.
Sunday in Sodom, stars the biblical Lot's Wife, named Edith, who recounts the events leading to her leaving Sodom with her husband and daughter. It has to do with the entrance of two soldiers and air strikes. Edith brilliantly recounts the story standing frozen in her famous pillar of salt, only moving her head a little bit.
All in all, Botticelli in the Fire and Sunday in Sodom is a wonderful collection of plays from the brilliant playwright Jordan Tannahill.
February 20, 2025
Meh...?
As an Italian Renaissance nerd, I'm extremely, painfully biased, but I really felt as though this fell into the category of someone wanting to write a play, then deciding to make it about history rather than someone wanting to write about history then deciding to write a play. At the very least, it seems to be surface level researched, but it still felt a lot like the writer was simply slapping historical names onto random characters. Why Botticelli and not Verrocchio? Why not simply put Leonardo in Sandro's place and Salai or Melzi in Leonardo's? What's the point of "queering history" if you're not going to use much actual history?
Aside from the history, which I admit, I am stupidly petty about, I think the personal connection between the characters could've been pushed much harder. The moments that really stood out to me were Poggio, coming to check on his friends during the fire, and Sandro, taking care of Leonardo at the end. These moments humanized the characters a lot, and struck a more emotional cord. If the work leaned more heavily into its fluff, those connections, I think it would've been much stronger.
I will also say, I love the uncensored sexuality in Tannahill's work. It often gives the plays edge, though it can sometimes push the line of "cheap shock value". I feel as though the sexuality of the work would be more effective with stronger inter-character connection and characterization.
Edit: Poggio. I have no idea why I thought his name was "Cecco"...
As an Italian Renaissance nerd, I'm extremely, painfully biased, but I really felt as though this fell into the category of someone wanting to write a play, then deciding to make it about history rather than someone wanting to write about history then deciding to write a play. At the very least, it seems to be surface level researched, but it still felt a lot like the writer was simply slapping historical names onto random characters. Why Botticelli and not Verrocchio? Why not simply put Leonardo in Sandro's place and Salai or Melzi in Leonardo's? What's the point of "queering history" if you're not going to use much actual history?
Aside from the history, which I admit, I am stupidly petty about, I think the personal connection between the characters could've been pushed much harder. The moments that really stood out to me were Poggio, coming to check on his friends during the fire, and Sandro, taking care of Leonardo at the end. These moments humanized the characters a lot, and struck a more emotional cord. If the work leaned more heavily into its fluff, those connections, I think it would've been much stronger.
I will also say, I love the uncensored sexuality in Tannahill's work. It often gives the plays edge, though it can sometimes push the line of "cheap shock value". I feel as though the sexuality of the work would be more effective with stronger inter-character connection and characterization.
Edit: Poggio. I have no idea why I thought his name was "Cecco"...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 11, 2020
Botticelli in the Fire: This is a brilliant example of historiographic metatheatre (a term I borrow from Alex Feldman, who builds it based on Linda Hutcheon's Historiographic metafiction). Right from the first moment we know that this is a metatheatrical play because it opens with Sandro Botticelli coming out and introducing the play, telling us that it's his story, and attempting to classify it for us--is it a vanity piece, and extravaganza, a bleeding artist fag-sob story, or a downfall story. He even does the silence your cellphones bit. This classification of the play and consideration of what framework these historical events belong to also hints at the historiographic aspect of the play (an awareness of the ways in which history is told as a story, but might be told differently as a story). But the most overt historiographic element is at the end of the play, when Leonard da Vinci walks out of Botticelli's studio forever. Botticelli decides to rewrite that ending, so that rather than leaving da Vinci stays and the bond over a sandwich symbolic of Botticelli's love of life.
https://youtu.be/VCQRZlYVMCc
Sunday in Sodom: Like Botticelli in the Fire, this is a postmodern re-imagining of the original text, which in this case is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from the Torah/Bible. Tannahill's version is told specifically from the perspective of Lot's wife Edith, but it is clearly a modernized version inspired in part by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The two "angels" are US soldiers, and instead of wanting to have sex with them, the villagers of Sodom are sympathetic to/active in the "insurgency," fighting for their homeland against a technological superior invasion force. When the townspeople brutally kill one of the soldiers, the other soldier warns Lot's family to get out (he manages to do so even though he doesn't speak their language) because the military is going to level the village through drone strikes in retaliation.
The other big element of Tannahill's retelling is the agnostic/anti-religious aspect, which is consistent with a more modern religious cynicism. Edith repeatedly mentions that Lot's family is religiously conservative, and that means they don't really think carefully or critically about things. She also out and out states that Abraham (Lot's cousin) is a cult leader, and she invites Isaac to stay on their couch for a few days after Abraham almost kills him then begs forgiveness claiming God told him to--an episode presented here more like a psychotic break than a religious revelation.
https://youtu.be/pmWErJN2KSc
https://youtu.be/VCQRZlYVMCc
Sunday in Sodom: Like Botticelli in the Fire, this is a postmodern re-imagining of the original text, which in this case is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from the Torah/Bible. Tannahill's version is told specifically from the perspective of Lot's wife Edith, but it is clearly a modernized version inspired in part by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The two "angels" are US soldiers, and instead of wanting to have sex with them, the villagers of Sodom are sympathetic to/active in the "insurgency," fighting for their homeland against a technological superior invasion force. When the townspeople brutally kill one of the soldiers, the other soldier warns Lot's family to get out (he manages to do so even though he doesn't speak their language) because the military is going to level the village through drone strikes in retaliation.
The other big element of Tannahill's retelling is the agnostic/anti-religious aspect, which is consistent with a more modern religious cynicism. Edith repeatedly mentions that Lot's family is religiously conservative, and that means they don't really think carefully or critically about things. She also out and out states that Abraham (Lot's cousin) is a cult leader, and she invites Isaac to stay on their couch for a few days after Abraham almost kills him then begs forgiveness claiming God told him to--an episode presented here more like a psychotic break than a religious revelation.
https://youtu.be/pmWErJN2KSc
March 14, 2019
Botticelli in the Fire - 5 stars. Excellent, very comical (filled with humorous anachronisms), a bit raunchy & graphic...
Sunday in Sodom - 5 stars. Funny, touching, page-turning, such a great piece for the actress playing Edith (Lot's wife) who goes through every possible emotion.
Sunday in Sodom - 5 stars. Funny, touching, page-turning, such a great piece for the actress playing Edith (Lot's wife) who goes through every possible emotion.
November 25, 2019
I think some of it went over my head because I’m not familiar with the historical context and it’s about, in part, queering that context. Even still I found it very funny and poignant, wish I’d have been able to experience the plays in person.
November 7, 2020
Botticelli in the Fire: Jordan Tannahill is one of my favourite playwrights, and this play is one of the biggest reasons. The way he is subverting history with a modern queer lens is amazing. Beautiful and terrifying.
July 19, 2021
Clever and engaging writing. The modern take on Botticelli's life is funny and touching. Great theatre! And the retelling of the story of Lot, as told by his wife, puts the biblical story in a very modern and understandable context.
August 14, 2025
Already logged Botticelli. Fantastic, want to play Leonardo.
Sunday in Sodom is a great anti-war play. Absolutely heartbreaking at the end. Fascinated by the stillness of Edith. I would love to see it staged; the feeling of life happening and then falling apart around this resolute figure.
Sunday in Sodom is a great anti-war play. Absolutely heartbreaking at the end. Fascinated by the stillness of Edith. I would love to see it staged; the feeling of life happening and then falling apart around this resolute figure.
November 21, 2018
My review can essentially be summed up with just a mix of heart eye emojis and crying face emojis
😍😭😍😭😍😭😍😭
(Full review to come)
😍😭😍😭😍😭😍😭
(Full review to come)
November 5, 2019
This shit is Raw.
June 9, 2023
Botticelli in the Fire was a much better read than Sunday in Sodom. I would consider mounting the former, but not the latter.
October 21, 2023
Great queer feminist rewriting of the stories of Botticelli and Lots wife.
March 2, 2024
Spectacular. Deeply real characters in impossible situations, electrifying stakes, and a satisfying mix of the gritty and the sublime. Would love to see it on stage.
December 18, 2024
This was a romp!!!
December 21, 2024
absolutely loved botticelli in the fire! sunday in sodom didn’t quite work for me but i think tannahill is brilliant
December 23, 2024
You know what, yes (4.5)
August 7, 2025
3.75 for Boticelli in the Fire it did make me laugh out loud at some point
4.5 for Sunday in Sodom i really want to see Sunday in Sodom staged
4.5 for Sunday in Sodom i really want to see Sunday in Sodom staged
dnf
August 25, 2025DNF’ed at 10%
December 13, 2025
these plays are SO fucking good!!! I have to warn you they will likely devastate you though in a way that’s so beautiful and well composed that you probably won’t even mind…
October 30, 2025
poignant, religious angst. makes good points about assimilation and making oneself useful. would love to see these performed.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews