Daniel (Tim Walter) is a poet charged with composing a work which explores the world of astrophysics, and so visits Martina (Gabrielle Scawthorn) who is a PhD candidate labouring in the shadow of her older, male supervisor. Martina makes an elating, Eureka type discovery in the field of radio astronomy, and has never felt higher in her life.
Scawthorne delivers several monologues which draw you into the sense of beauty and excitement that scientists chase as they explore the edges of space and time itself: in these moments you can feel the immense amount of research playwright Alana Valentine conducted at, inter alia, the Parkes Radio Telescope, the Department of Physics at Oxford University, the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and the Vatican Library. The play won the 5th International Stage Award, judged by multiple Pulitzer and Nobel winners.
This is a work that explores how women have been treated by the scientific community and the scientific process. It asks us to consider what the ramifications of working in ‘teams’ has meant for the women who do manage to secure employment in this once male dominated field. Professor Geraldine Kell-Cantrell (Belinda Giblin) notes that since 1901 there have been 825 Nobel prizes for men and 47 for women. Part of the charm of this production is that it deals with territory not often seen on Australian stages: Valentine writes that there have been only a clutch of plays about science staged in Australia in recent years, and fewer still about Australian science.
Set design (Shaun Gurton) is minimalist, which makes the characters, and their hopes and dreams, shine against a black backdrop like stars in the night sky. With the aid of an AV component placed high above the action, from the second row I had an (I’m sure deliberate) experience akin to what you might expect in a planetarium.
Assured performances from Christopher Stollery and Giblin showcase their wealth of theatrical experience. Walter sets the poetic tone of the piece early with a deeply affecting monologue that launches the audience out of our garden variety atmosphere and into the dreamy world of the NASA enthusiast. Gabrielle is strong throughout but delivers several absolutely astonishing moments, where tears flow liberally, and she is reduced to a quiet howl of pain that conveys the agony of those who have been silenced throughout history; the private despair of the marginalised.
Ear to the Edge of Time interrogates the juncture where science and art meet. Nadia Tass (Director) notes her role is to stage a production which entertains and informs; to invite us in to a world where ‘gender politics, hierarchy and discovery are as explosive as the formation of the double pulsar.’
This production features world class professionals tinkering with the building blocks of society and the physical universe; make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to have your imaginative horizons expanded to the very edge of time.
Ear To The Edge Of Time is presented by Sport For Jove Theatre and the Seymour Centre and is playing until October 27.