There's probably a clue in the title of a production entitled  Ha Ha Da Vinci , isn’t there? We all know a little about Leonardo da Vinci: creator of  Mona Lisa , the world’s most famous painting, whose iconic status transcends the art world and has become a byword for enigma itself, lending its name to, amongst others, a Nat King Cole song and a Bob Hoskins film. Yet fusing art and science, Da Vinci was so much more – architect, palaeontologist, sculptor and engineer – the l

It's fair to say that Elizabeth Keckley lived a life less ordinary. Emancipated slave turned dressmaker to Abraham Lincoln’s wife, the roll call of her achievements includes fashionista, writer, entrepreneur, activist and fundraiser. Tami Tyree tells her story at Milan Fringe in  Colored Silk . Born early in the nineteenth century into slavery, Keckley endured a typically brutal upbringing, including rape and beatings, despite being the daughter of the head of the household.

The ninth century: plague, war, pestilence, famine. The populace was largely u neducated, and ignorance was rife. Life expectancy was short – especially if you were a threat. We meet Johanna, born in a Rhine valley village at a time when women were forbidden from reading and writing. Her brother, Johannes, secretly helped her to read, though only after first extracting a price. Johannes died from a fever, however. A woman in the village, Matilda, had knowledge of herbal remed

Walking the streets of Milan at this year’s Fringe, I stumbled upon the Wall of Dolls. A memorial to victims of female violence and femicide, members of the public are encouraged to pin dolls to the wall and, hauntingly, there are photographs of some victims. It’s all rather sobering. L’altro ieri  (which can be translated as  The Day Before Yesterday ) recounts the story of Franca Viola, yet another victim of female violence. However, she and her family displayed enormous co