One of the few (known) successful women painters of the 17th century, Artemisia Gentileschi was famous for depicting women as they are and not as men would like them to be. She was also famous for bringing her rapist to justice during an excruciating seven-month trial, which included the use of a particularly gruesome 17th-century lie detector called a thumbkin. With the FBI failing to investigate newly revealed claims of sexual harassment and assault against Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, and with the Senate Democrats batting down calls for Kavanaugh's impeachment for purely political reasons, a remounting of a play about Gentileschi feels timely, if only to reinforce the timelessness of her story. And you'd think Macha Theatre Works would be the company to do it. But while the story is certainly worth telling, most of the directorial choices aren't worth enduring. by Rich Smith