(Rated 4/5 )
The Dear Donmar
looked extra small walking into it last night. I have been in some of the
bigger theatrical spaces, which London provides, more recently, and also I
guess I have dramatically (no pun intended) lowered my expectations of Donmar
productions, and indeed productions in general – both on stage and on the small
screen, having experienced some disappointments. I say that, but I think it’s
really important to acknowledge my feelings come from having been truly spoilt
by some sensational productions in my fairly recent past. But this time, I am
very pleased to say the smallness of the Donmar space was deceptive in several
ways. Indeed it did reflect a confined space – a ‘lunatic asylum’ as it might
have been termed at the time The Physicists (written by Friedrich
Dürrenmatt in 1962, this version by Jack Thorne) was set. The ‘lunatics’ (I
seem to have adopted that word though it was not used in the play!) apparently
believed themselves to be Albert Einstein (Paul Bhattacharjee), Isaac Newton
(Justin Salinger) and the third, Möbius, a channel for King Solomon (John
Heffernan). The play opens with the murder – although psychiatrist and head of
the institution, Dr Mathilde Von Zahnd (Sophie Thompson) tells us, we must not
use that term; it’s rather an ‘unfortunate incident’ – of one of the nurses by
Einstein, who is calming himself down with some violin playing. Detective
Inspector Richard Voss (John Ramm) investigates and this whole first act turns
straight into a farcical comedy, which does not seem to quite work. It brings
up some interesting considerations on responsibility of the mentally ill, the
nature of mental illness, is mildly amusing in parts, seems to be a little
over-acted but with good portrayals of Newton et al., and has us wondering if
this is a poor version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest meets The
Pink Panther, but here we have yet another deception. After the interval, Act Two opens in much the
same way as Act One, this time Möbius has murdered his nurse, whom he claimed
to be in love with. I wondered if this was making some comment about the
mentally challenged in relationships and maybe that they couldn’t handle love
and closeness – by this time all 3 patients had murdered their respective
nurses. But the actual message of the play was far more wide-reaching and
frightening. If I had read reviews, or even the programme beforehand I would
have had some idea as to what the play was actually about. At the time it may have
helped me forgive what I thought to be a poor first act, but I am pleased I had
no idea, as the plot twists are very clever, interesting and really have you
thinking and discussing afterwards. It surprised me in an excellent way! But to
give them away would be to spoil it so I will avoid details. This play had
myself and my friend discussing concepts around brilliance versus madness, and
are they maybe highly linked? The legacies of the well-known physicists and
philosophers and how they and other lessons from humanity over the years have
all fed into our collective unconscious (Jung) and been built on. What it may
mean both personally but also to the wider world if someone hides their
insights from science or art – in this context Da Vinci lost the credit for his
marvellous discoveries on the heart and circulation to Harvey so that help to
humanity was delayed – but could the consequences be far worse and for harm
rather than good. Are discoveries always a good thing? Is science dangerous in
the wrong hands? Are we humans developed enough spiritually to handle our
knowledge?
Though, as I mentioned I thought there was some
over-acting at points, this was a very good cast and the stage was made great
use of. Sophie Thompson delivered in the slightly manic but marvellous way she
can, John Ramm was an amusing detective, Miranda Raison did very well in two
very different roles as wife and then nurse to Möbius. The
physicists themselves hit their marks beautifully. For me, Paul Bhattacharjee
did the best job at portraying his famous scientist alter-ego Eistein, but John
Heffernan reslly shone as Johann Wilhelm Möbius, especially considering he was
struggling with a very runny nose from cold or hayfever. Maybe I’m a bit of a
wuss when it comes to such things, but I really doubt I’d have been able to do
the job he did under the circumstances!
Well done
Donmar People and Josie Rourke. An excellent effort with its sights on
brilliance.
The Physicists – Review
by TheRestrictedReviewer © 2012
Twitter: @RestrictReview
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