Embody, by Lauren Gunderson, which opens at New Phoenix Theatre this week, depicts 24-year-old Leonardo, the most famous citizen the town of Vinci has ever produced.

An artist? Certo! But so much more. In his lifetime, he vindicated himself as an inventor, mathematician, engineer, anatomist, architect, musician and writer.

Gunderson, about the same age as her character Leonardo, shares his multiplicity of interests. In addition to her work in theater, she considers herself to be a scientist and an activist as much as an artist. It is her propensity for research that fuels her writing and her intention to make a difference in the world that impels her to the keyboard.

In his youth, Leonardo was something of a bad boy. Gunderson describes him as enlightened, as one might anticipate of a leading figure of the European Rennaisance, but also a bit of a contrarian.

“He was funny,” Gunderson relates. “He was a something of a jokester. He was a vegetarian. He had a smiling outlook on life, as opposed to some of the other artists, who were a bit darker and prone to grieving. He was a lover of life, of humanity and animals.”

In his twenties, Leonardo and several companions were arrested on charges of sodomy. An anonymous accusation like this could be considered a nuisance charge, like a disturbing the peace call from an unknown neighbor. In 15th-century Florence, it was not uncommon for young men to share sexual relationships, particularly in an all-male environment such as a 10-year apprenticeship in an artist’s studio. However, the unnecessary attention of the court and the church in his life could be a detriment to Leonardo’s budding career.

Artvoice: What had Leonardo accomplished in his life and works by the time the play takes place?

Lauren Gunderson: Not much, at least according to a really detailed account in Lives of the Artists by Giorgo Vasari, which was written when Leonardo was quite old. He was an apprentice with an artist named Verrocchio, who was the big dog of the time and was known for his very lifelike depictions. So, Leonardo would paint a flower or some angel’s hair or something that would seem kind of minor in a bigger work, but people started noticing it. He was doing a lot of sketching in his notebooks, but for the most part he was largely undiscovered. But then that changed.

AV: During the Renaissance, a time which might be the pinnacle of humanism, there was also a repressive, backlash culture.

LG: Exactly. That is a political complexity. Leonardo did not live in the nation of Italy as we know it today. It was blocks of city-states, fighting and in-fighting all the time, very defensive, very patriotic groups of people led by royalty, all very familial…it was not rare to be at war your whole life.

AV: Like the Texas Bushes versus the New York Clintons.

LG: Kind of. Very similarly in what became, especially around this time, a religious state dictatorship. The cardinals started taking over. And like the conservative, religious right made moralist claims as a way to defend persecuting people, a way to defend bigotry, as a way to defend ignorance, as a way to defend dictatorship and rule of something that is not based on equality and justice. As I was writing Embody, that seemed very clear to me.

AV: So an artist has a responsibility to respond to injustice?

LG: Oh, certainly, I think if an artist doesn’t respond I’m not sure if their voice is needed. Part of what art does is to respond accurately and acutely to the current state of the world.

AV: What is it that makes Atlanta a good theater city?

LG: Well, the sheer number is great. There are a lot of people doing a lot of different kinds of work. Probably about half are doing mainstream stuff. But there’s a lot of people doing new work and different kinds of new work. We are trying to get audiences to go to everyone’s work, rather than just to the one theater where you might subscribe. We’re working on it.

AV: A number of contemporary women playwrights are from the South.

LG: Really?

AV: Well, Marsha Norma, Beth Henley…you are in good company.

LG: Great! I’m preaching it! Keep on keeping on…I’m certainly willing to get on that wagon.

The world premiere of Embody, by Lauren Gunderson, runs March 2 through April 1, directed by Matthew LaChiusa for New Phoenix Theatre, 95 North Johnson Park (853-1334).