Science, Williamson style

Nearer the Gods (Queensland Theatre)

Queensland Theatre, Bille Brown Theatre

October 6 – November 3

David Williamson’s “Nearer the Gods” intriguingly promotes itself as a show about the politics of 17th Century science. This appears affirmed by its pre-show Purcell Chamber Music sounds and when Isaac Newton (Rhys Muldoon) appears seated at a table centre stage, he is wearing a periwig and dressed extravagantly according to the play’s Restoration era setting.

As he greets the audience, however, he informs us that the show won’t be performed in period costume after all. This emerges to be a wise directorial decision as it does not distract from the story and its essentially human conflicts, both internally and interpersonally.

Under Sam Strong’ direction, what follows is fascinating, as feats of human endeavour often are to those distanced from their time. It begins in 1684, at the dawn of the Enlightenment, with Robert Hooke (Colin Smith) and Christopher Wren (Hugh Parker), two of London’s Royal Society’s most prominent scientists and architectural collaborators/co-designers of several important works in post-fire London (including the Monument to the city’s Great Fire), being called to meet with King Charles II (William McIinnes) about investigations into the forces of planetary motion.

Also at the meeting is astronomer, Edmund Halley (Matthew Backer) who then travels to Cambridge to meet with reclusive professor Isaac Newton, who it is rumoured, might have something interesting to tell him about celestial mechanics. And so the story proper becomes about physicist Isaac Newton, known in his day as a natural philosopher. More particularly, it is about the personality behind the Physics, especially of this complex and quite difficult but brilliant man, estimated to have an IQ level of 190.

The rivalry between Newton and Hooke (presented here as a vengeful and vain antagonist, despite Newton’s own uncompromising approach and inability to accept criticism) is evidenced in some bitter clashes as thy two great scientific minds, compete to be reputed as the greatest thinker of the age.

Act Two then follows Halley’s push to have Newton’s 1687 Principia book (now regarded as the most important work in the history of physics) published, despite opposition from within King Charles’ Royal Society for Improving Natural Knowledge, the oldest national scientific institution in the world.

Halley is a young and eager offsider to the cantankerous Newton, inspired by the genius’ enumeration of his three laws of motion as explanation of universal gravitation and excited in the discovery of new truths, even if they might be at the expense of his religion and in opposition to his wife’s (Kimia Tsukakoshi) essential beliefs system. Indeed, the compatibility or otherwise of faith and reason serves as an ongoing and enduring theme that enhances the play’s resonance not just as a historical artefact account but from a modern philosophical perspective.

There are no weak links in this stellar cast. Becker’s Halley is sprightly, generous and secure. He is not only a likeable and relatable protagonist, but absolutely nails the funniest line of the show in light of his own legacy in his namesake periodic comet. And Muldoon is brilliant as the deeply troubled Newton, obsessed by and obsessive about his work, and his conflict with Hooke. Also of note is McInnes who makes for an imposing King Charles II, cocksure in his strut about the place, but also serving as a patron of knowledge, eager to embrace reason as the way forward to increase human knowledge.

Certainly, “Nearer the Gods” is a play of big ideas. It is, accordingly a dialogue-heavy work. Still, though there is a lot of movement in interaction with its simple stage design, afforded by the all-new Bille Brown theatre, which is at-once new and shiny, but also with surprise nooks and crannies. And the spectacle of an otherwise-dark sparkling starlit theatre is a breathtaking Act Two highlight.

“Nearer the Gods” is a fascinating work from Australia’s most commercially successful playwright. Beyond calculus and scientific formulas, it serves mostly as a celebration of human achievement. And there is a shared excitement in witness, albeit only dramatically, of ambitions being realised that will form the foundation of countless human advancements. And if nothing else, it will leave you wondering why exactly it is that we want to know why.

Swiss sophistication

Switzerland (Queensland Theatre Company)

The Greenhouse, Bille Brown Studio

May 20 – June 26

From the moment audiences enter QTC’s Bille Brown Studio, they are absorbed into the aesthetic of Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith’s “Switzerland”, an imagined interaction between American author Patricia Highsmith (creator of the famous serial killer character Tom Ripley) and a visiting rep from her publisher, shortly before her death.

The encounter may be fictional, but the staging shows inspiration from her real house in Tegna, Switzerland, from show of her prized weapon collection to the plastic bag mysteriously hanging from the ceiling. Beneath a wall of framed cat photos, Highsmith (Andrea Moor) is hunched over, tapping away at a typewriter. She’s not a technology Luddite, but rather one with a inherit dislike of modern life in general. In fact, as is soon apparent, she doesn’t like much at all, including the visiting Edward Ridgeway (and it is personal).

Ridgeway (Mathew Backer) has been sent from New York to where Highsmith lives in reclusive self-exile in the Swiss Alps, caught in her own tragedy of past-trauma torment. Knowing of her illness, her US publisher wants him to persuade her to write another, final psychologically-thrilling Ripey story. But getting her to sign the contract is no easy task. Although fiercely articulate in her own acumen, Highsmith is dismissive of intellectualism and belittlement is her default position as she attempts to bully him away. This gives the play an early orientation against which to anchor its cat-and-mouse game-play as the protagonists take audiences along a tense 80 minute ride, including an intriguing final twist that see Ridgeway reappearing as Ripley, the concrete rather than abstract chameleon character.

Especially in their initial, biting banter, the two characters smash out line after line of quotable comments and insightful observations. There is eloquence, too, particularly in Ridgeway’s discussion of the writing process and Highsmith’s creation of a character with who she shares such intimacy (as allusion to his later appearance) and discussion of the role of tragedy in a character’s tapestry.

The shrewd, witty writing is realised by riveting performances from both Moor and Backer as their equally complicated characters. Moor is perfectly blunt as the legendary grump, sharp-tongued and unapologetic in her provocative opinions and intrusive questioning of Ridgeway’s background, yet also, later, insecure in her essential aloneness and acceptable of preference to ‘be a somebody somewhere you hate than a nobody somewhere you belong’. And Backer’s realisation of Ridgeway’s journey from nervous fan to more assertive contributor is measured enough be beguiling in its transformation. This is a performance that is fascinating to watch, filled as it is with subtleties; with even just the tilt of his head, for example, he tells so much of his character’s changing confidence.

Although “Switzerland” is a swift, sharp and sophisticated work, under the direction of Paige Rattray, it is also, simultaneously, a slow burn of a theatre experience. It is more tightly charged than its opening humour might imply and is filled with clues as to its gripping narrative and challenging conclusion. Its naturalistic set of muted beiges as backdrop to its thrilling story, is amongst the Bille Brown Studio’s best. And its engrossing twists will have you reflecting and sharing in conversation long after you leave the theatre.

Photos c/o – Rob Maccoll