Leonardo's doubts surface in 'Di Esperienza'

If you had invented scissors, you'd likely feel satisfied that your contribution to the world was, indeed, a good one.

This is where you might insert thoughts of a tropical vacation, living on the fruits of your labor.

But after scissors, add to your list the extendable ladder, adjustable monkey wrench, olive oil press, parachute, snorkel … oh, and the "Mona Lisa."

These were a few of the many contributions, inventions and creations of Leonardo da Vinci, widely considered one of the greatest minds of all time.

A true Renaissance man, Leonardo's contributions extend far beyond the woman with the mysterious smile.

But he left many works unfinished, because like many of us he was hounded with self-doubt and was a chronic procrastinator.

"Di Esperienza," the next offering at Plan-B Theatre Company, opens Friday. It looks at Leonardo, who in his exhaustive personal journals frequently asked, "Tell me if anything has ever been achieved?"

As part of a partnership with The Leonardo and Utah Shakespearean Festival's New American Playwrights Project, resident playwright Matthew Ivan Bennett was approached by Plan-B's producing director Jerry Rapier to write a play about the legend.

Trying to answer Leonardo's question of whether anything had ever been achieved, "Di Esperienza" puts Leonardo face-to-face with three of his works of art.

"It was just a matter of deciding which ones," said Bennett in a phone interview.

"The 'Mona Lisa' is obvious because not only is she the most well-known but also because of the mystery. And I knew I needed an antagonist, and you can't have a better one than Judas (from 'The Last Supper')."

In his research, Bennett noticed a pattern. "I was choosing paintings that were more or less unfinished," he said, explaining that it took four years to paint the "Mona Lisa," "and he never had it delivered," and two years to do "The Last Supper," "and he really toiled over how to paint the head of Jesus and Judas — he couldn't do it."

The final art piece to weigh in on the debate is a sketch of Isabella d'Este, "one of the most powerful patrons of the Renaissance," Bennett said. "He never finished the work," Bennett added, noting that Leonardo was not very good at the "politics of art. She could have given him a lot of work and made his life a lot easier."

"The thing that is interesting to me," said costumer Jann Haworth, "is that in the script, Leonardo is a modern man, and the voice is so contemporary. I had the notion of taking contemporary clothes and doing something that would gesture toward the Renaissance, but not with perfect accuracy."