Little Devil and the War Machine

The plans are drawn, the catapult cocked. 
🎭Little Devil and the War Machine🎭 is officially live at The Motley WhereHaus for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Forced by a tyrant to invest the future of warfare, Leonardo da Vinci may be a Renaissance Man, but his boyfriend Salaì is a Renaissance Menace; hellbent on sabotaging sieges and dynamiting desire in a queer Commedia rollick that blows the dust off history with an overcompensating canon. 

Witness a foolish fusion of physical comedy and satire with enough anatomical accuracy and raunchy perspective to make a master painter blush. 
🎟️Tickets available in bio @little.devil.show March 23 - April 5
9:30 PM nightly The Motley WhereHaus @themotleysatellites 

Players: Phoebe Mason as Leonardo Meg Taranto as Salaì Tim Sneddon as Machiavelli Fabio Motta as Borgia Writer Director: James Vinson 
Producer: Claudia Harris
Tech: Tiah Bullock

Trailer Music: @albert_salt #melbournecomedyfestival #commediadellarte ID: A hyper fast cut of Meg Taranto playing Salaì, Phoebe Mason playing Da Vinci, Tim Sneddon playing Machiavelli, and Fabio Motta as Cesare Borgia. Meg is tressed in a vest, trunk hose, and pale lovers makeup with blush. Tim is dressed in a Brighella mask and a black tunic. Fabio is dressed in a Capitano mask, red velvet cape and black and red ruffled shirt and black tights. Phoebe is dressed in a Dottore mask, long red tunic, yellow socks and ribbons in her hair.

A huge thank you to @the.ryan.hamilton for their thoughtful words on 🎭Little Devil and the War Machine🎭 in their latest ‘Gag City’ dispatch. 
 According to Ryan, the "demon twinks" and "hyper-masc himbos" of 1502 surprisingly have a lot to say about the military-industrial complex of 2026. This little devil concurs.😈
 Only a few shows remain! Don’t miss your chance to make love and break empires. 
🎟️Book @little.devil.show March 23 - April 5
9:30 PM nightly The Motley WhereHaus @themotleysatellites 

Photos by @maryscho @jamesvinsonpictus #melbournecomedyfestival #commediadellarte

💋Make love.💋💥Break empires.💥’Little Devil and the War Machine’ joins the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2026!
 Forced by a tyrant to invent the future of warfare, Leonardo da Vinci may be a Renaissance Man, but his boyfriend Salaì is a Renaissance Menace; hellbent on sabotaging sieges and dynamising desire in a camp commedia rollick that blows the dust off history with an overcompensating canon.
 Witness a foolish fusion of physical comedy and satire with enough anatomical accuracy and raunchy perspective to make a master painter blush. Poster design: @henrylucas5 

🎭 Little Devil and the War Machine 🎭
 📅 March 23 - April 5 
 🕤 9:30 PM nightly
 📍 The Motley WhereHaus

A deeply felt thank you to everyone who joined our Renaissance rollick, Little Devil and the War Machine, for this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival. To be met with standing ovations and such generous words from reviewers and audiences has been an obvious pleasure, but beyond that, it’s been a personal artistic joy to see these masks play to vocal crowds. For the masks were made to play! Such a spectacle would not have been possible, of course, without our wondrous cast. I am dizzyingly proud of the dedication they gave to endowing their archetypes with life and madness on stage, rendering physical form to my strange proposal of a text-based Commedia satire. In closing the show, I also want to acknowledge the weight of the world outside the theatre doors. There is a very scary and at times, cartoonishly unfathomable real-life war machine turning right now, and whilst the timing of our story may have felt politically apt, we truly wish it were otherwise. I hope that our silliness provided some momentary relief and a space for catharsis or validation. It remains true that foolery is strategic irreverence toward rigid power structures, and that the jester keeps their head by telling the truth sideways. So to that end, I’ll say it’s been an honour to play our truth to you all, and I hope to play again soon. For now, Leonardo is putting down the brush, and Salaì is off to ride his bangbarrow. Ciao 😈 - James (writer/director) And one final THANK YOU to… Claudia Harris (producer) @claudiaharrisproducing Tiah Bullock (tech) @tiahbullock Christian Bagin (dramaturg) Giovanni Fusetti (dramaturg) Josiah Lulham (costume) @josiahlulham Jess Lu (costume) @jess.yxlu David Harris (costume) @come.close.and.listen Rose Chong’s Staff (costume) @rosechonghire Albert Salt (music) @albert_salt The greatest players in Imola: Phoebe Mason @big_owl_energy Meg Taranto @megpie____ Tim Sneddon @timsnedd Fabio Motta @fmphotographic

@praise.dionysus sings praise upon Meg Taranto going full Meggie-eval in 🎭Little Devil and the War Machine🎭
 Our season is almost over! 
🎟️Book @little.devil.show March 23 - April 5
9:30 PM nightly The Motley WhereHaus @themotleysatellites 

Photo by @maryscho #melbournecomedyfestival #commediadellarte

comedy fest diary continues!!! this time with shows from @eneworld_dotheatre @ori_mj_ @sad_goldfish @skint.producing @elliotwouldnt @little.devil.show @claudiaharrisproducing go see something at #micf!!!! and also subscribe to the gag city newsletter to make me happy (and so we both get to keep in touch outside of the attention economy) 💋 link in bio

“Salaì is a thief, a liar, obstinate, and a glutton.” - Leonardo da Vinci 
🎟️Tickets available in bio @little.devil.show March 23 - April 5
9:30 PM nightly The Motley WhereHaus @themotleysatellites #melbournecomedyfestival #commediadellarte

“Historical fiction with a lil’ bit of naughty.” A few words from our gorgeous first audience for 🎭Little Devil and the War Machine🎭 
🎟️Tickets available in bio @little.devil.show March 23 - April 5
9:30 PM nightly The Motley WhereHaus @themotleysatellites 

Trailer Music: @albert_salt #melbournecomedyfestival #commediadellarte

six days @little.devil.show 😈

Showtime next week! Circle your dates! 🗓️ 🎟️Tickets available in bio @little.devil.show March 23 - April 5
9:30 PM nightly The Motley WhereHaus @themotleysatellites #melbournecomedyfestival #commediadellarte ID: A calendar outlining the comedy festival dates for Little Devil surrounded by rough provocative sketches of war machines and other naughty things.

Meet the artists behind 🎭LITTLE DEVIL🎭 two weeks til showtime! 🎟️Tickets available in bio @little.devil.show March 23 - April 5
9:30 PM nightly The Motley WhereHaus @themotleysatellites #melbournecomedyfestival #commediadellarte ID: Professional headshots of SLIDE 1: Claudia Harris (Producer) SLIDE 2: James Vinson (writer director) SLIDE 3: Meg Taranto (playing Salaì) SLIDE 4: Phoebe Mason (playing Leonardo da Vinci) SLIDE 5: Fabio Motta (playing Cesare Borgia) SLIDE 6: Tim Sneddon (playing Niccolò).

From their Venetian roots in Carnevale, Fabio Motta discusses how the masks of Commedia dell’Arte have been brought to life in the upcoming Melbourne Comedy Festival show 🎭LITTLE DEVIL🎭 🎟️Tickets available now in bio @little.devil.show When: March 23 - April 5, 9:30 PM nightly Where: The Motley WhereHaus @themotleysatellites #melbournecomedyfestival #commediadellarte #venetianmask ID: A video of Fabio Motta speaking to camera with a drawn cartoon of Cesare Borgia behind him on an easel. The video is intercut with footage of Meg Taranto, Phoebe Mason, and Tim Sneddon rehearsing and performing in Commedia masks.