[NEohioPAL] Review of CPH's "The Life of Galileo"

[Bob Abelman]

Cleveland Play House ushers in new era of discovery with 'Galileo'

 

Bob Abelman

 

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,

The Morning Journal, Geauga Times Courier

Member, American Theatre Critics Association 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 9/30/11

 

Just as the sun is the center of the universe around which the earth orbits, so too is Paul Whitworth as Galileo Galilei the centerpiece around which the Cleveland Play House production of The Life of Galileo revolves.

 

The Life of Galileo, the inaugural production on the wonderfully refurbished and re-envisioned Allen Theatre stage at PlayhouseSquare, is the latest of four versions of Bertolt Brecht's epic play.  Translated by David Edgar, it tells the tale of the renowned 16th century astronomer and inventor known as the "Father of Modern Science."

 

Brecht's Galileo is a driven, multi-dimensional and wonderfully flawed creation.  Here we encounter a man who "cannot resist an old wine or a new idea," who defiantly sets his personal passions and scientific observations against the faith and authority of the Church at the cost of his daughter's happiness, and who's self-loathing festers after surrendering his convictions to the Inquisition.  

 

As one would imagine the historical man to be, this literary Galileo is verbose to the point of being mind-numbing.  A typical sentence spoken by our hero is so filled with scientific principle and colorful extrapolation that it requires the actor playing him to inhale frequently during delivery and the audience to exhale exhaustively upon its completion.  

 

Fortunately, the actor playing Galileo is Paul Whitworth.

 

Having played the title role in the Asolo Repertory Theatre production of this play earlier last year, Whitworth brings the wherewithal of a seasoned performer as well as the confidence of an actor intimately familiar with this character, his world and the landscape of the play. 

 

His Galileo is a passionate humanist with the perpetual glint of curiosity in his eyes.  Whitworth's subtle and marvelous transition from an energetic and energizing discoverer at the beginning of the play to a near-broken, excommunicated old man at the end is spellbinding.

 

Of course, Brecht's plays are always more than they seem and this one serves a higher purpose than merely rendering stageworthy this scientist, his life and his science.

 

The Life of Galileo was written on the brink of World War II while the playwright was exiled from Germany and living in the U.S.  It is clearly a cautionary tale about the catastrophic consequences of scientific discovery being ignored or, worse, misappropriated and misused.  It is a powerful parable of the need for "the slow and gentle power of human reason" and one that is as relevant today as then.

 

Not unlike Galileo improving upon, rather than actually inventing, the telescope, this CPH production of The Life of Galileo is an exquisite and engaging remounting of the production originally created for Sarasota Florida's Asolo Repertory Theatre.

 

It boasts of the same creative team at the helm with the same dramatic and highly stylized staging choices by director Michael Donald Edwards.  Intact, albeit tweaked, is Clint Ramos' modern costuming and minimalist scenic design, the same use of contemporary digital projections by Dan Scully to create a sense of time, a semblance of place and an atmosphere of intelligence, as well as Peter West's lighting and Fabian Obispo's intriguing segue and ambient music.

 

With set pieces flying in from the heavens and projected imagery filling the stage, this production beautifully showcases the CPH's new and intimate theater space with its state-of-the-art bells and whistles.  

 

Also superb is the large ensemble of largely home grown performers that support Whitworth's enterprise.  They include Robert Ellis, Bob Goddard, Charles Kartali, Jeremy Kendall, Aric Floyd, Jeffrey Grover, Jonathan Ramos, Christian Prentice and Thomas Weil. 

 

Stand-out out-of-towners include Philip Goodwin as The Cardinal Inquisitor and Stephen Caffrey as Sagredo/Cardinal Bellarmin.

 

Less natural and, thus, less effective performances are turned in by Kim Krane as Galileo's daughter and Alex Hernandez as her suitor. 

 

Thematically and aesthetically, The Life of Galileo properly christens the Allen Theatre and, with Paul Whitworth's engrossing performance, the standard for future CPH productions has been firmly established. 

 

The Life of Galileo continues through October 9 in Cleveland Play House's Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare.  For tickets, which range from $41 to $69, call 216-241-6000 or visit www.clevelandplayhouse.com.
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