The Madonna Painter splashes onto the Centaur canvas.

"The Madonna Painter or The Birth of a Painting" by Marc Bouchard, translated by Linda Gaboriau, directed by Roy Surette. Centaur Theatre’s artistic director Roy Surette “When I read The Madonna Painter I was immediately captivated by its exotic, almost folkloric quality. There is mystery and superstition interspersed with major historical events and Quebec’s unique religious past.”

In 1918 a handsome young priest settles in a village in Lac Saint-Jean. Determined to inspire the faith he believes will protect the town from the onset of the Spanish flu, he commissions a visiting Italian painter by the name of Alessandro to create a fresco depicting the Blessed Virgin. With the financial backing of a misanthropic doctor, he sets out to recruit a model from among the village women, all of whom are deeply fixed in their own medieval-like mythologies and martyr and saint roles. Just when the perfect model has been picked the plan takes a turn for the worst. Set against a rich imagistic backdrop of iconography, sex and blood, this dark and humorous fable explores the collision of ecstasies, secrets and lies in the face of an impending epidemic.

The Madonna Painter had its World Premiere in Italian in 2002. 'Il pittore di madonne o Nascita di un quadro di un quadro' by Francesca Moccagatta, was first produced in Florence, Italy. The French language première, "Le Peintre des madones, ou la naissance d’un tableau' was presented at l’Espace GO in 2004. It has since been translated into Spanish and Greek. Most recently The Madonna Painter opened at Toronto’s Factory Theatre.

The production stars: Stefanie Buxton, Graham Cuthbertson, Lucinda Davis, Alessandro Juliani, Jean Leclerc, Meg Roe, Amelia Sargisson. GO C IT!

Playing at Centaur Theatre March 30 to May 2. www.centaurtheatre.com