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I haven't studied a lot of Brecht. But from what I have studied, I feel very safe in making the assertion that Brecht is either someone that people either adore and worship and elevate, or he's someone whose work people really can't stand. I lean heavily toward the former, which is why I was so excited to see The Wilma Theater's production of The Life of Galileo.
Fortunately for fans of Brecht, this production will not let you down. Its opening is sudden and rather startling: the house lights go down at the exact moment that the stage lights go up and the set fills with a cacophony of factory noises and the dozen or so actors that make the chorus. If you were expecting the costume or set to be period-appropriate, you were sadly mistaken. That is, if you were expecting the costumes or set to be appropriate to the early seventeenth century. If you were expecting the costumes or set to be appropriate to late-1930s Germany, when Galileo was originally produced, then Janus Stefanowicz (costumes), Mimi Lien (set design), Tyler Micoleau (lights), and Troy Herion (sound design) should all be commended for their outstanding design work on what was one of the most technically precise shows I have seen this season—not that I've come to expect any less from Wilma productions.
But why, oh why, would a play whose actions take place in the 1600s be set in the 1930s? Well, if you know your European history, you'll find that it actually makes a lot of sense: the persecution of the thinkers of new or different ideas that went against the Catholic church was not unlike the persecution of thinkers of new or different ideas under the Third Reich. Brecht, himself a "decadent" German thinker who would eventually seek amnesty in the United States surely related to Galileo and his peers. Why else would the soldiers patrolling the border at the end of the play be dressed as SS? But the play wasn't only relevant then: even today, new scientific ideas face harsh scrutiny from conservative religious organizations. Think of the ongoing controversies over teaching evolution. Nothing ever changes; everything stays the same.
For their parts, director Blanka Zizka and casting director Bill Felty have assembled a fantastic cast of some of Philadelphia's best and brightest and most-respected performers for this darkly comic look at what happens when the world isn't ready for science. Each of the performers (twenty-three in all, including the aforementioned chorus) deserves his or her own praise and recognition for a job well done. The play is long, but the actors keep things going at a good clip, so the show is over before you realize it. They are hilariously funny when the script calls for humor, and appropriately sad when the script calls for gravitas.
To be perfectly honest, I don't think I can find a single fault with The Life of Galileo. It's definitely a must-see—unless you're one of those people who just can't stand Brecht.
John Campion as Galileo and Greg Wood as Sagredo; photo by Tyler Micoleau.
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Thanks for the wonderful review of our production of Life of Galileo. I felt a need, however, to point out that Brecht was not Jewish. His reasons for fleeing Germany were not religious but political: Brecht was the foremost Marxist playwright in Germany, and his subject matter and style of writing additionally classified him as decadent. His writings were among the earliest burned by the Nazis.
Yikes, Walter! You're right, of course. I was going from memory from a class I took three years ago, but I dug up the notes after I saw your comment. I'll make that correction now. Thanks so much!