Saturday, June 23, 2012

A poignant HIT : Science inaction, a love story

    Griffin McInnes's satirical, funny but ultimately touchingly poignant play hasn't officially opened yet but Griffin was lucky enough - through the graces of Situating Science director Gordon McOuat - to hold a performance at the Kings College University Crypt Theatre* last night, before an audience of HOPOS 2012 attendees.

(HOPOS is the academic Society for the international study of the history of the philosophy of science and as this was a gentle satire on the author of the most important books (Laboratory Life) ever on the philosophy of science, Bruno Latour, the audience definitely 'got it '. )
       But while they came for the science, I suspect they stayed for the love story.
      I am not totally sure the poignancy is in the words on the page of Griffin's script, but it definitely there in the physical casting.
     There are only 2 in the cast - unless you count frogs and TVs (many zillions of each) .
    He (the Bruno Latour stand-in) is tall , lithe, handsome, blond and a PhD candidate.
    She, nominally, is 'just' a lab tech and is short, red-haired and 'plump' to boot.
    Bruno,the male part, requires the actor to be a good-looking naive boytoy while the female, Donna, gets a chance to swallow lots of scenery and drive the plot.
    I shall not give away any more of that plot, but if you like your love stories poignant as well as funny , you shouldn't miss WitsEndTheatre's Science inaction when it opens this week at Halifax's Bus Stop Theatre : a hit !
* I know, I know , in these irreligious times, we are supposed to call it "the pit" but it'll always be the "the crypt" to me....

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