Arsema Thomas to star in new play Da Vinci’s Laundry

Arsema Thomas will bring a new play to London.

Keelan Kember’s Da Vinci’s Laundry centres around two art experts as they try to establish the authenticity of a painting.

The satire, about the value of masterpieces, money laundering, power, and the farcical world of art, will be directed by Merle Wheldon.

Joining Thomas on stage as Millie will be Steve Zissis as Tony, Velibor Topic as Boris, Kember as Christopher, and Fayez Bakhsh as Prince.

You can read our interview with Thomas from earlier this year here.

Kember explained that he was speaking to someone who worked in the art world about the Salvator Mundi, the “Lost Leonardo”. It has just sold for $450 million and this person was convinced it is a fake.

“The idea that the most expensive painting ever sold at auction could even have whispers that it was a fake was, I thought, hilarious,” the playwright said, “I then looked into the world of auctioning high-value art, and found that fake paintings were the tip of the iceberg. I wrote Da Vinci’s Laundry to satirise the opaque, sexy, maddening and hilarious world of the auctioning of the world’s masterpieces.”

Produced by KB Productions, the piece will feature set design by Eleanour Wintour, while Tessa Alderton is the stage manager.

Da Vinci’s Laundry will play at Riverside Studios from 6 to 25 October, with an official opening set for 8 October.