Were it nor for Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, Jim Croce
might not have thought of saving TIME in a bottle. TIME connects two plays
(running in repertory) at the Central Square Theater and it informs another one
up at New Repertory Theatre. EINSTEIN’S DREAMS and COPENHAGEN
are chain reacting in Central Sq. on alternating days through Nov. 15th
(with the same cast in each)… and A NUMBER is multiplying in Watertown through Nov. 1st..
The two plays at Central Sq. (produced by Underground Railway
Theater and M.I.T. Catalyst Collaborative) are related by physics, of course,
but more importantly, they’re related by apocalypse. Einstein wrote to
President Truman imploring him not to use the atomic bomb and there would be no
bomb to warn about, were it not for the atomic explorations of Niels Bohr and
Werner Heisenberg.
EINSTEIN’S DREAMS (adapted by Wesley Savick from the Alan
Lightman bestseller) is a theatrical fantasia in which Einstein’s extraordinary
ideas come and go like the characters he remembers. The play itself is, like
Einstein’s “reconception of time,” a reconceptualization of his ideas bouncing
against a clever backdrop of comedy, movement, music and dance.
Theater, it turns out, is the perfect medium for an
explication of Einstein’s work precisely because it can skip around in time,
defying the laws of nature. Time is compressed to fit into a short play… and concurrently,
expanded to include Einstein’s past, present and future. Savick bends time
backwards on itself (mimicking Einstein’s “reciprocity theory”) because time is
not a limiting factor on stage: We can observe Einstein at several different
points in his life. For example, we are able to observe him at work in the
patent office, daydreaming about energy and mass, light years, so to speak, before
his famous E = mc2.
The Einstein we meet on stage speculates that the dimensions
of time could be blurred so that we might meet our deceased parents again… or
if time were frozen, we could savor one moment for as long as we like (although
that didn’t work out so well for Faust). Each idea and speculation is
illustrated with music or photographs and the inventive gestural language of
the three actors.
Debra Wise and Steven Barkhimer are the charming supporting
players who anchor Robert Najarian as Einstein. They dance with him. They joke
with him. They are the electrons to his vibrant nucleus. He jumps for joy when
contemplating the world and its mathematical possibilities. Najarian fairly
bursts with energy in Wesley Savick’s vibrant production (so much energy that I
had a bit of trouble making out his dialogue, coming at us at lightening speed
through a thick German accent.) I have no doubt that Najarian and Savick will
iron out that wrinkle in time!
My COPENHAGEN
review will follow as soon as I see the play.
NUMBER, Please
Caryl Churchill’s A NUMBER (at New Rep through Nov. 1st)
takes cloning and ingeniously adds the factor of TIME to the procedure: Each
clone in Churchill’s imagining has been incubated over and over from the same
DNA. Churchill is asking if they’re actually the same each time. Does it matter
that each was cloned years apart? Since nature has been removed from the equation,
does nurture matter to a clone?
Christina Todesco’s giant “bug zapper” towers buzz ominously
as a clearly distressed son (Nael Nacer) asks his father (Dale Place) about his origins. Then
another son appears who looks exactly like the first one and he asks relatively
the same questions but he’s plenty angry. Perhaps with good reason.
Director Clay Hopper creates a forced calm on stage which
increases our apprehension as more and more information surfaces. We’re
watching intently to learn who these people are. Having seen the measured filmed
version (A NUMBER) with Tom Wilkinson and Rhys Ifans, I must say I prefer the
stage play. Watching Place slowly unravel and Nacer triumph in three distinct
roles make this NUMBER add up to compelling theater.
