I have a confession to make – Ian McDiarmid changed my life.
Seeing him as Edward II in 1986 at Manchester’s Royal Exchange made me realise what a truly great player could do with a monumental role. Seeing his performance as Galileo in this RSC production merely confirms my view.
At heart Brecht is more lecturer than dramatist yet he does a great job here humanising this breathtaking history of ideas while Mr McDiarmid’s genius makes scientific saint Galileo totally believable, simple at heart yet with a burning desire for facts in a superstitious age.
His astronomical researches aroused the antagonism of an all-powerful Inquisition but a feigned recantation saved his life. If this lack of heroism seems cowardly now it was actually a canny strategy that allowed him to continue his ground-breaking enquiries in secret, leaving a scientifically enlightened world the richer for his guile.
The resulting drama is a tour de force of eloquence depicting one of the first truly modern men. With a great supporting cast this play deserves to be seen for its very human take on one of the giant figures who made our modern world.
A Life of Galileo runs at Birmingham Rep until March 8. For tickets visit birmingham-rep.co.uk or phone the box office on 0121 236 4455.
