The Curtain Calls

The Curtain Calls
Central Pennsylvania Theater Reviews

Galileo Vilifies Limits on Freedom

by Lisa Paige-Stone

Ever wonder why it is we in the U.S. adhere so firmly to the separation of Church and State? Why it’s so key that scientific research be sponsored by non-prejudiced backers?

The Theatre of the Seventh Sister’s ambitious production of Brecht’s Galileo makes it plain.

The show opens with an enthusiastic and inspired Galileo Galilei (John Lenartz) scrambling for a way to fund his astronomy research. He appeals to the Medicis, despite the warnings from Segrado (Rich Barbour), his trusted advisor, that in Florence he’ll be funded but "told not to think." After his merchant Venetian backers desert him (they learn that he filched the telescope idea from the Dutch, whose merchants are now swamping their markets with mass produced, inexpensive ‘magic tubes’) he is forced to choose between relying on the Medicis or giving up research entirely.

Galileo opts for the court position but persists — in a brilliant performance by Equity member Lenartz — in pursuing the scientific truth, and eventually documents through use of his ‘tube’ that Copernicus was on the right track, and that the Earth is indeed not the center of the universe, but a lowly planet revolving around a minor star. What follows doesn’t surprise anyone who’s read results of tobacco research conducted by the likes of Marlboro. Members of the very aristocracy who support him and leaders of the Church alike refuse to accept his findings. In fact, eventually the Inquisition imprisons him and presents him with a grim choice: suffer torture or recant.

Obviously, it’s a Catch-22. If he dies, the truth is never published. If he recants, the truth is never published.

Sort of like living in Nazi Germany, as did Brecht, before he escaped in 1938.

Okay, the Catholic Church is not the Nazi’s, the Pope not Hitler. But this play convincingly makes the case that any interest group’s rejection of reason leads to human tragedy. The transformation in Act II of the inspired scientist to the broken, aging Galileo, so well portrayed by Lenartz, speaks to that.

Additional stellar performances are given by Brian Martin as the adult Sarti, Galileo’s student, and Michael Hall, the ‘Little Monk’ who at first defends keeping the lower classes ignorant so they can continue to anticipate salvation in heaven, and then realizes that the truth takes precedence over illusory comfort. When Sarti visits his old teacher at the end of the play, at first unwilling to forgive him for abandoning his cause, then eager to discover a method to Galileo’s ‘madness’ in surrendering to the Church, the range of emotions he expresses in one scene yanks the audience down the same rocky path.

The cast of Galileo is huge, and occasionally overcrowds the limited stage space in this somewhat intimate and avant garde theatre. But then again, the effect is perhaps appropriate, as characters occasionally seem perched on the very edge of the set, a series of large discs tilting toward the audience. In one scene, Director Pat Lemay takes excellent advantage of this phenomenon; the ensemble dances at the edge of the discs, laughing at the notion that the world is spinning and they may fall off. The irony is thick.

For those who know Brecht more by The Threepenny Opera or Mother Courage, you’ll find less that is experimental in this fairly traditional play. However, the Ballad Singer and his Wife (Stephen Spiese and Elizabeth Pattey, both of whom beautifully perform the slightly atonal music typical to Brecht’s works) serve as narrators throughout, providing Brecht’s characteristic reminder to the audience that they are watching a play.

In 1992 — belatedly enough? — the Roman Catholic Church apologized to Galileo Galilei for forcing him to recant. It was a bit late to improve his life or prevent the delay of the Enlightenment. But with our daily headlines today screaming about the religious positioning of our presidential candidates, Galileo leaves us asking how enlightened we really are. Both Galileo and Brecht believed they could change society — Galileo through science and Brecht through the stage. Galileo undoubtedly has; Brecht’s influence is spreading further courtesy of The Seventh Sister.

Galileo runs at various times through March 25. Theatre of the Seventh Sister is at 31 South Duke Street and tickets ($15/$13) are available at the door or by calling 396-7764 for reservations.