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This article was published 11/7/2011 (3966 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
MTC Warehouse (Venue 6), to July 24
Three genius physicists, Albert Einstein (Lyle Smordin), Sir Isaac Newton (Craig Oliphant) and Johann Wilhelm Mobius (Mike Seccombe), keep killing nurses in their upscale European insane asylum as they each wrestle with the madness their discoveries can cause.
The Physicists
A troupe of local, mostly amateur actors — ably directed by Sandor Demeter, a doctor by day — do pretty well with this dense, talky exploration of the moral responsibility of scientists in the nuclear age. It’s a fast-moving, slightly surreal drama by Swiss playwright Friedrich Durrenmatt, with a little Cold War intrigue and some secret CIA identities thrown in. It’s not as dark as it sounds.
This production has a bit of a community-theatre feel to it, and can be somewhat stilted at times, but the three key performances are confident and Winnipegger Katherine McLennan is a standout in the role of the asylum’s top psychiatrist.
— Mary Agnes Welch
From the official Fringe Festival program:
A black comedy that probes the anxieties, guilt and sanity of three physicists (Einstein, Newton and Mobius) who live in a mental asylum during the post-atom bomb era known as the Cold War. Are scientists responsible when their discoveries are used against humanity? Durrenmatt provides humorous and poignant insight into this undying moral question.
Recommended For: General Audience
Length: 75 MIN
Tickets: $9
Discount Tickets: $8 for Students, Seniors, Fringe performers
***
Watch video here.
Three genius physicists, Albert Einstein (Lyle Smordin), Sir Isaac Newton (Craig Oliphant) and Johann Wilhelm Mobius (Mike Seccombe), keep killing nurses in their upscale European insane asylum as they each wrestle with the madness their discoveries can cause.
A troupe of local, mostly amateur actors — ably directed by Sandor Demeter, a doctor by day — do pretty well with this dense, talky exploration of the moral responsibility of scientists in the nuclear age. It’s a fast-moving, slightly surreal drama by Swiss playwright Friedrich Durrenmatt, with a little Cold War intrigue and some secret CIA identities thrown in. It’s not as dark as it sounds.
This production has a bit of a community-theatre feel to it, and can be somewhat stilted at times, but the three key performances are confident and Winnipegger Katherine McLennan is a standout in the role of the asylum’s top psychiatrist. ★★★
— Mary Agnes Welch
