Scot: Why do you think people are so drawn to Leonardo?
Peter Donaldson: “I think people are drawn to the character of Leonardo da Vinci because he reminds us of ourselves, our own capacity for genius, for excellence, for being useful, for being productive. Certainly we are attracted to Leonardo because he had a great mind. Certainly we are a bit in awe of great talent. And so we project the best of what we aspire to onto him.

But I think that people are also drawn to Leonardo because they sense a much more subtle attribute. A great mind, yes, a great talent, to be sure, but most of all, a great curiosity.

I think we see Leonardo as the consummate kindergartner, as all kindergartners are fabulous. Remember being in kindergarten? Totally confident of our new found verbal and motor abilities, totally engrossed in data derived from our five senses, totally in love with the big questions: Why? How? Let me see? In fact no question was too big for us. That’s Leonardo. That’s the charm we see in kindergartners. Fearless curiosity. That’s the yearning we all have to be alive and curious and exploring our world. As adults we sometimes forget this core attribute. Leonardo celebrates it. And in celebrating it he reminds us of what we have always been.

Of course, what’s also fun about this play is letting people see the underbelly of Leonardo; the tinkerer with a workbench in the garage, the wedding planner, the employee. Everybody has to go to work and make a living. This view of Leonardo helps us to relate to him even more.”

Scot: How did all this get started for you?
Peter Donaldson: “I’ve been a theater director and a playwright for many years. This work is about making stories. I have also been a teacher for many years and I have come to learn that real learning has little to do with assigning grades or meeting standards. Learning for me, like all good curricula is about the story architecture we build in our minds and how much interactive meaning it can hold for us, and how we come to apply it in making improvements in the real-time story we are actually living.

But probably the most important foundation for me in this work is the fact that my mother is a librarian. She read to me. I have an architecture in here for stories. My mother has always given books for gifts. One year, I received a big fat biography of Leonardo da Vinci. There it is, I thought, that’s the story I want to live into. And not just Leonardo’s story, but the story of his times. Something tells me we are at a very similar juncture today.”

Scot: So you think the Renaissance has relevance for people living today?
Peter Donaldson: “Something happened back then. Certain circumstances conspired to create the conditions for a tremendous advance in human understanding and capacity. Fascinating parallels exist; similar patterns are at play today. Just take even a cursory glance at the “20 Questions for a New Renaissance” and your mind begins to fire.”