Rappaccini’s Daughter offers a stark warning against the perils of unchecked scientific ambition. Our production envisions the story through a Biblical lens infused with modern allusions, casting doctor Rappaccini as a God-like figure presiding over a toxic Eden of his own creation. In his relentless quest to create a superhuman, he has infused his daughter Beatriz with the poison of venomous plants. Her very touch brings death, rendering her a prisoner inside her father’s garden.

 

To alleviate her isolation and further his ambition of creating a super race, Rappaccini introduces Giovanni, a naive student new to Padua, into Beatriz’s world. In our production, their tragic love story unfolds against the backdrop of a looming scientific catastrophe: our ending underscores the dangers of scientific progress without ethics as the garden’s toxins metastasize and poison the entire city of Padua.