TASTY LITTLE RABBIT : uncovering of a secret 1890s queer love triangle in Fascist Italy

Photo of Rob Nagle, Robert Mammana, Massi Pregoni by Philip Pirolo

If you are a regular reader of QUEERGURU you will know we love to share our passion for uncovering queer history, but I don’t think any of it holds a match to the subject of  Tom Jacobson‘s fascinating new play “Tasty Little Rabbit“.  Inspired by a true story of intrigue and artists set during the 1936 Fascist Italian investigation of pornography charges in Taormina, Sicily. This artistic prosecution uncovers a much darker secret of an 1890s love triangle involving poet Sebastian Melmoth, photographer Wilhelm von Gloeden and an 18-year-old Sicilian boy. What might be discovered, and sacrificed, to protect secrets of the heart?

About to have its World Premiere at Moving Arts in LA, where the director George Bamber, explained to Queerguru,   “Benito Mussolini used moral cleansing as a means to gain control of the people in Italy. Tasty Little Rabbit focuses on one such persecution of 1890s photographer Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden, He was the Gilded Age’s ultimate ‘influencer.’ His photographs of the locals on the Sicilian coast made the village of Taormina a required stop on the grand tour, particularly for prominent men attracted to beautiful male youth. What drew me to the play, what made it essential for me to direct, is Tom’s unparalleled ability to make issues of complexity more understandable. We are too easily manipulated by headlines that force us to stand either on the right or the left. Tom’s skill is holding our focus so we can contemplate the complexity of art vs pornography, normative vs deviant orientation, sexual agency vs exploitation.” 

Playwright Tom Jacobson recalls, “When I first learned that Wilhelm von Gloeden’s beautiful and highly-charged photographs of young Sicilian men were confiscated by the Italian Fascist government in 1936, I thought it might be a story I wanted to tell. As I dug deeper into the research, I learned even more exciting things, including that Pancrazio Buciuni, one of the models, was the owner of the photographs and negatives confiscated by the Fascists. What were his feelings about these renowned images of himself that the government declared obscene? What was his relationship with von Gloeden? Our feelings about von Gloeden’s work today are complicated, and understanding Buciuni helps us approach these extraordinary and groundbreaking images more honestly and with greater empathy. Theatre and photography–especially portrait photography–are grounded in empathy, so theatre is a wonderful way to tell this photographic story. The play reveals a number of secrets that make it both fun and dangerous.” 

The cast includes Robert Mammana as Wilhelm von Gloeden/Cesare Acrosso ; Rob Nagle as Sebastian Melmoth/Francesco Maffiotti  and  Massi Pregoni as Pancrazio Buciuni 

 

Tasty Little Rabbit opens at 8pm on Friday, May 2 and runs at 8pm Fridays and Saturdays, 4pm on Sundays through June 6, 2025. Moving Arts is located at 3191 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039. Tickets are $33; Student $20 (Must show student ID at the door). Reservations: https://movingarts.org/project/tasty-little-rabbit/ 

 

This play is a part of Reflections on Art and Democracy, a celebration of plays and lectures in Los Angeles aimed at raising awareness about the rise of fascism, racism, and antisemitism, the power of art and design to resist them, and the confluence of visual and performative artworks to promote democracy.