A Life of Galileo

Description

Arguably Brecht's greatest play, A Life of Galileo charts the seventeenth century scientist's extraordinary fight with the church over his assertion that the earth orbits the sun. The figure of Galileo, whose 'heretical' discoveries about the solar system brought him to the attention of the Inquisition, is one of Brecht's more human and complex creations. Temporarily silenced by the Inquisition's threat of torture, and forced to abjure his theories publicly, Galileo continues to work in private, eventually smuggling his work out of the country. Brecht's beautiful depiction of the explosive struggle between scientific discovery and religious fundamentalism is captured masterfully in this new translation by RSC writer-in-residence, Mark Ravenhill.

Bertolt Brecht is acknowledged as one of the great dramatists whose plays, work with the Berliner Ensemble and writing have had a considerable influence on the theatre. His landmark plays include The Threepenny Opera and, while exiled from Germany and living in the USA, such masterpieces as Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Mark Ravenhill is one of the most distinctive contemporary UK playwrights. He burst on to the theatre scene in 1996 with the huge hit Shopping and Fucking. He has continued to garner critical acclaim for plays that include Some Explicit Polaroids, Mother Clap's Molly House, Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat, A Life in Three Acts, and Ten Plagues. He is Writer in Residence at the RSC.

Ravenhill has more to say, and says it more refreshingly and wittily, than any other playwright of his generation * Time Out * There are few stage authors writing more interestingly than Mark Ravenhill . . . He is . . . a searing, intelligent, disturbing sociologist with a talent for satirical dialogue and a flair for sexual sensationalism. * Financial Times * The real pleasure of ... Mark Ravenhill's slimmed-down translation lies in the absolute clarity with which [he] put[s] Brecht's masterpiece before us ... the real joy lies in seeing Brecht's timeless debate about scientific morality rendered with such pellucid swiftness. -- Michael Billington * Guardian * Lively and ultimately moving ... Ravenhill's nifty and highly theatrical script, which pares down Brecht's sometimes interminable speeches while retaining their essence -- Charles Spencer * Telegraph * A sharp new adaptation by Mark Ravenhill that emphasises the dark comedy and diversely rich theatrical inventiveness in a piece that Brecht kept revising -- Paul Taylor * Independent * A lively rendition of a remarkably rich play whose account of the clash between evidence and vested interests is both timeless and, here and there, particularly pertinent -- Dominic Maxwell * The Times *