Theatre Review: The Lightest Element
By @edent
· review theatre · 3 comments · 250 words
The problem with plays about science is that they necessarily have to give the audience a mini-lecture in the subject.
The problem with biographical plays is they need to give the audience a summary of a life in a few short speeches.
The problem with historical plays is they have to give a précis of the context needed to understand the times.
The Lightest Element is a historical science biography, with the net result that it feels like a play based on a dozen smushed together Wikipedia articles0. The text veers towards the didactic, with the occasional piece of heavy-handed Socratic dialogue thrown in for variety. The ninety minute runtime (without interval) doesn't allow much time for character development - which makes the supporting cast feel like caricatures.
It has a great deal of wit, and contains a powerful message about the overblown "culture wars". But are the keyboard warriors who rail against the nebulous concept of "woke" actually visiting the theatre?
It is a good play, with fine performances. Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin's story has been tragically overlooked for too long - this is an interesting, if uneven, attempt to set the record straight.
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All credit to my wife for that phrase! ↩︎
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@Edent Ah, that was useful. I kind of missed this as plays that do science - apart from Copenhagen - have tended to be weak.
@blog I enjoyed reading this review! As a writer I wonder if the problem with historical/scientific/factual plays is that the artifacts upon which they are based make the plays themselves resistant to the compression required for drama. When I think of Shakespeare’s histories - they are fundamentally bogus in their timelines and events - facts are bent into amazing narratives. Wikipedia sort of precludes that now. I wish plays were considered a version of history…
@blog Yeah, plays really have to be one of the three, not all three!
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