Stage Door News
Stage Door News
May 13, 2015… Seana McKenna, Geraint Wyn Davies, Graham Abbey and Mike Nadajewski star in Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s provocative and darkly comic satire The Physicists, in a new Canadian adaptation by Michael Healey, directed and with dramaturgy by award-winning director Miles Potter. Previews began on Tuesday and the production officially opens on Wednesday, May 27, at the Tom Patterson Theatre.
Leading a powerhouse cast are four of the Festival’s finest talents: Ms McKenna plays the director of the asylum, Fräulein Doktor Mathilde von Zahnd, with Mr. Wyn Davies as Johann Wilhelm Möbius, Mr. Abbey as Herbert Georg Beutler (alias Newton) and Mr. Nadajewski as Ernst Heinrich Ernesti (alias Einstein).
The production also features the talents of Randy Hughson as Richard Voss and Claire Lautier as Monika Stettler.
As funny as it is thought-provoking, the play begins with a murder investigation in a madhouse, where three of the patients are physicists. One claims to be visited by the biblical King Solomon, while the other two claim to be Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton. In a dizzying series of surprise twists, this seeming murder mystery quickly morphs into what appears to be a hilarious espionage spoof. But every appearance in this play is deceptive, as its chain reaction of absurd revelations lead inexorably to a chilling – and potentially apocalyptic – conclusion.
“Friedrich Dürrenmatt seemed, in his life and work, to be fascinated and frustrated by the paradox and contradiction of human existence,” says Mr. Potter. “This could have led him to a kind of pessimism and a tragic view in his work, but rather he seems to feel that comedy is the best mode of expression for a ‘world that is packing its bags, as ours is.’
“When I first encountered this play, I was fascinated by it, but I did feel that all the translations I was able to find seemed to just miss the tone of the politically tinged humour that is so relevant today. So when I tried to think of who might be able to approach a new adaptation for the twenty-first century, my first thought was Michael Healey, author of a trilogy of award-winning socially and politically conscious comedies. I hope you enjoy the result of this collaboration as I enjoyed having another opportunity to work with one of Canada’s finest playwrights.”
“A Cold War satire originally written in German in the early 1960s, The Physicists is a striking departure from our traditional repertoire,” says Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino. “But though it might seem to have more in common with Dr. Strangelove than with Shakespeare, it fits perfectly into our season’s theme of Discovery – in this case, scientific discovery and its troubling moral implications. This deliciously dark comedy tells us a profound truth: that knowledge itself is not enough – is dangerous, even – without wisdom.
“This new English-language version, which we commissioned from award-winning playwright Michael Healey, joins two other contemporary Canadian works being showcased on our stages this season: the world première of Kate Hennig’s The Last Wife and our revival of John Mighton’s Possible Worlds. Provocative and extremely funny, Michael’s superb adaptation brings a fresh Canadian sensibility to Dürrenmatt’s classic, and Miles Potter’s brilliant production is as riveting as it is entertaining.”
Mr. Potter has directed nine productions for the Festival, including 2011’s groundbreaking Richard III, and the highly acclaimed productions of Medea and Orpheus Descending, both of which were later presented by Mirvish Productions in Toronto. Mr. Potter has worked at virtually every major venue in the country over the past 30 years. He has worked on many new scripts, including the première production and national tour of Michael Healey’s The Drawer Boy, for which he won the Dora Award for Best Direction.
Artistic credits include Set Designer Peter Hartwell, Costume Designer Gillian Gallow, Lighting Designer Steve Lucas, Sound Designer Todd Charlton and Fight Director John Stead.
This production is the world première of a new adaptation by Canadian playwright Michael Healey, based on a translation by Birgit Schreyer Duarte, with dramaturgy by Miles Potter.
Corporate sponsor for the 2015 season of the Tom Patterson Theatre is BMO Financial Group.
Production support is generously provided by Alice & Tim Thornton.
Support for the 2015 season of the Tom Patterson Theatre is generously provided by Richard Rooney & Laura Dinner.
The Physicists Forum Highlights
The Stratford Festival Forum is a series of activities and events, including fascinating talks, interactive presentations, concerts, comedy shows and performances, that offer theatregoers a unique opportunity to delve further into the ideas and issues raised by the 2015 playbill and its theme of Discovery: That Eureka Moment.
Themes related to The Physicists will be explored through several Forum events, including:
A Canadian’s Challenge
Wednesday, June 24, 10:45 a.m. to noon
Studio Theatre
Director Miles Potter and playwright Michael Healey discuss the need and process of adapting The Physicists for our time – when questions of responsibility remain, but the stakes have changed.
Raymond Laflamme
Sunday, June 28, 10:30 a.m. to noon
Studio Theatre
Raymond Laflamme, Canada Research Chair in Quantum Information and protégé of Stephen Hawking, talks about imagination and curiosity in the world of theoretical physics.
Exploring the Perimeter: Where Art Meets Science
Saturday, September 26, 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Studio Theatre
Lee Smolin, co-winner of the 2014 Buchalter Prize in Cosmology, theoretical physicist and faculty member at the Perimeter Institute, and Michael Healey, playwright and adaptor of The Physicists, in a conversation on the intersections of art and science in their respective work.
Sustaining support for the Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Family Foundation.
Support for the 2015 season of the Forum is provided in memory of Dr. W. Philip Hayman.
Stratford Direct, the daily return private bus service, now offers two routes: Toronto to Stratford and Detroit to Stratford. The Toronto bus costs $20 round trip, departing twice daily from May 4 to September 19. The Detroit bus costs $40 round trip, departing once daily from May 26 to September 19. Both routes are available on performance days with some exceptions.
Stratford Direct is generously sponsored by the Peter Cundill Foundation.
The 2015 season, which runs from April 21 to October 18, features Hamlet, The Sound of Music, Carousel, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Taming of the Shrew, She Stoops to Conquer, The Physicists, The Alchemist, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Oedipus Rex, Possible Worlds, The Last Wife and The Adventures of Pericles. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit stratfordfestival.ca or call 1.800.567.1600.
Photo: Seana McKenna and Geraint Wyn Davies. ©2014 Don Dixon.
2015-05-13
Stratford: Friedrich Dürrenmatt's "The Physicists" starts previews at the Stratford Festival