The story of one man’s lonely and heroic stand against the forces of authority, Belvoir presents Bertolt Brecht’s Life of Galileo in a completely re-configured in the round production from 3 August 2019.
Directed by the 2019 Helpmann Award winning Belvoir Artistic Director Eamon Flack (Counting and Cracking) with the great Colin Friels starring as the revolutionary scientist, Life of Galileo is a portrait of a man who realises the entire system is based on lies – and his backdown when the forces of money and orthodoxy threaten him.
Has the great Galileo betrayed science and the future? Or has he just found a more subtle way of speaking truth to power? A classic play of truth, lies and science, Life of Galileo is an eerily prescient and unmissable play about the tensions between the pursuit of knowledge, and the power of official ideology.
“In the popular mind, theatre is synonymous with “faking it”- when actually theatre is one of the few crucibles of truth left, and the world outside is a pack of comfortable convenient lies.” says Eamon Flack “It’s no coincidence that Galileo’s battle against the church and Brecht’s battle against nut-bag ideology are the best guide to truth and lies in public life today.”
“At a time when governments just make up numbers this play is an invigorating dose of honesty. Its central character’s love of facts, free thought, our capacity for working out better ways of doing things, is just such a relief. More truth!” he added.
Life of Galileo stars Ayeesha Ash (Bell Shakespeare’s The Players), Peter Carroll (An Enemy of the People, STC’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui), Colin Friels (Dance of Death, Faith Healer), introducing WAAPA graduate Miranda Parker, Damien Ryan (Sport for Jove’s Othello, Bell Shakespeare’s As You Like It), Damien Strouthos (Bell Shakespeare’s The Miser, The Merchant of Venice), 2019 Helpmann Award winner Vaishnavi Suryaprakash (Counting and Cracking), Sonia Todd (TV’s Rake, Janet King) and Rajan Velu (Counting and Cracking).
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatrical practitioner whose epic theatre departed from the conventions of theatrical illusion and developed the drama as a social and ideological forum for leftist causes. His works include The Threepenny Opera, The Seven Deadly Sins, Mother Courage and Her Children, Mr Puntila and his Man Matti, The Good Person of Szechwan, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and The Caucasian Chalk Circle.
Director: Eamon Flack Featuring: Ayeesha Ash, Peter Carroll, Colin Friels, Miranda Parker, Damien Ryan, Damien Strouthos, Vaishnavi Suryaprakash, Sonia Todd, Rajan Velu Adaptation: Tom Wright Set and Costume Designer: Zoe Atkinson Lighting Designer: Paul Jackson Composer and Sound Designer: Jethro Woodward Stage Manager: Tanya Leach Assistant Stage Manager: Bronte Schuftan
Life of Galileo
Upstairs Theatre – Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills
Season: 7 August – 15 September 2019 (previews: 3 – 6 August)
Information and Bookings: www.belvoir.com.au
Image: Colin Friels – photo by Daniel Boud